A New Dawn
by PepperX
Summary: “Mom…” Embry said quietly. “Jaq can’t have kids.” “What do you mean?” “She was… in an accident a few years ago. It damaged her really badly.” Jaq almost laughed. Well that was one way of putting it...
1. Ambushed

Jaq pounced on the deer and pulled it down to the ground. She made a face as she drained the blood. She hated this part of being a vampire. She hated that her body compelled her to survive on the life of other creatures. In her human life she had been a full vegetarian, now that was an impossibility.

Suddenly she looked up, her nostrils flaring. There was someone nearby. She stood up quickly and smelt the air again. It didn't smell human. It smelt like… like another vampire.

She tensed and scanned the area around her. Then she saw him.

He was a very pale man, dressed in a doctor's uniform. He was walking towards her at vampire speed from the house at the bottom of the hill. She took a step back in alarm. He reached her in less than a minute.

"Hello." He greeted her politely. She tensed, frozen with fear. "I'm not going to hurt you." He assured her.

Jaq still couldn't speak. She watched the colours of his aura sparkle. It was a creamy white without even a tinge of red. It was very similar to Nathan's. It was a safe aura – he'd never killed anyone. But she'd been wrong before.

"W-who are you?" She stammered.

"Would you like to come down to the house and I'll explain it to you there." She didn't feel like she had a choice.

"O-okay." She stammered. _He has a nice aura, he should be okay_… she tried to assure herself. It didn't work.

They walked down at vampire speed to the house and he opened the door for her. She walked inside and he shut it behind him.

"Could you just wait here a second," He asked politely. "I just want to take my work clothes off."

"S-sure…" She murmured before he left up the stairs.

She stood still in the deserted hallway. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. She had been wrong about auras before. She shuddered as she remembered what that had resulted in...

A pixie haired girl of about the same height as her skipped down the stairs and hugged her enthusiastically. Jaq froze.

"Hi," The girl grinned. "I'm Alice." Her aura was a bright sparkly pink with green shimmers and a tiny red tinge.

"Try not to scare her _too_ much Alice." Warned the brunette from behind her. "Not everyone is used to your manic behaviour." She turned to Jaq, smiling. "Sorry about her, she absolutely refuses to respect anyone else's personal space. Anyway … Hey, I'm Bella."

"Hey …" Jaq mumbled, taken aback. She frowned, anxious. She couldn't see Bella's aura. Not at all. That had never happened before. It worried her.

"I see you've met Alice and Bella." The doctor man was back. He was now accompanied by another female vampire. She had blonde hair and a creamy coloured aura which also had a tiny red tinge at the edges. It almost matched the doctor man's aura and was a clear description of her very kind face.

"Hello," The female smiled warmly. "I'm Esme and this is Carlisle, my husband." She indicated to the doctor man.

"Hello…" Jaq said quietly.

The front door opened and in came a bronze haired male vampire. He headed straight for Bella and held her hand. His aura was as blue as the top Bella was wearing. The red in it was much more potent than Alice's or Esme's.

He was followed in by a huge bear like male and attached to his arm was a beautiful blonde female. They both had greeny yellow auras with red tinge.

One more male with blonde curly hair came after them and shut the door behind him. He walked over to Alice and wrapped his arms around her. His aura was a dark green with a hidden red. It was very different to Alice's but also had a pink shimmer the same shade as hers as if they we connected on a spiritual level.

"Who do we have here then?" The bear like male asked with a grin.

"I…errr…" Jaq stammered. She didn't feel safe here. Not at all.

"This is Jaq." Alice said bubbly. Jaq's mouth dropped open. _How did she know her name? _"She's the one I told you about. Remember, Jasper?"

The curly blonde nodded and looked over to Jaq, scrutinising her. She could almost feel the beads of sweat that would've popped out on her forehead when she was human.

"This is Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and Edward." Carlisle introduced them all in turn.

Jaq was frozen with fear. She'd never been in the company of so many vampires.

"Oh," The bronze male, Edward said looking up with a frown. "We're scaring her. There's too many of us."

"Oh dear," Carlisle exclaimed kindly. He looked to the others "Maybe you should all find something else to do for a little while."

They nodded and began to walk away. Alice waved ecstatically as she was guided towards the stairs by Jasper, and the bear like male, Emmett grinned impishly before leaving with Rosalie, the blonde female. Esme gave a kind smile and left the room.

Carlisle, Edward and Bella stayed. They still outnumbered her three to one but she felt more comfortable – not _totally_ though.

"Would you like to come into the lounge?" Carlisle asked.

Jaq nodded hesitantly. She still didn't feel quite at ease. They walked through the hallway and through the first door on the right. It was a very nice house with a pastel colour scheme.

"I…ermm…like your house."

"Thank you," Carlisle smiled. "It was Esme's design."

"It's very nice."

He sat on the sofa and Bella and Edward sat in the loveseat next to it. Carlisle indicated for her to sit down. She hesitantly sat on the edge of the armchair furthest away from the others.

"How did …. Alice…. know who I was?" Jaq asked quietly.

Edward frowned. "I told her to act sane. I knew she would frighten her."

"Alice has that effect on everyone." Bella laughed at him then turned to Jaq. "She can see the future. She saw you coming."

"She can see the _future_?"

"Yeah, but it can change though, depending on the decisions people make." Bella explained. "We almost thought you weren't going to come at one point."

"She saw me coming?" This scared her a little. What _else_ could these people do?!

"Yeah, she saw the others with you too…" Bella trailed off confused. "Say, where _are_ the others?"

Jaq's mind flicked to a picture of Connor. She hoped he was okay.

"They're… at the bed and breakfast still." She said unwillingly.

"Keeping up appearances." Carlisle said. It was a statement not a question.

Jaq's mind flickered back to Connor. He should be asleep now - unless of course he was having nightmares again. She should be with him really. Not here with these…people…

"No..." Edward murmured. "Not for appearances. One of them is …. Human."

Jaq looked up at him shocked. How did he do that? It was almost as if he could hear what she was thinking.

"I _can_ hear you thinking." He smiled apologetically.

"W-what?"

"I'm a mind reader." _Eeek…_ So now they had a psychic _and_ a mind reader. She was getting more and more nervous by the minute.

"Human?" Asked Carlisle shocked.

"He's … my nephew." No point in lying if they had a mind reader.

"Your _biological_ nephew?"

She nodded.

"So you must be quite young then?"

"Just three years."

Bella smiled. "I'm only two." Jaq frowned. She was still worried about Bella's invisible aura. She could see everybody's aura. Alive _or_ dead… She didn't like not being able to see it. It made her feel uncomfortable. _Why couldn't she see it?_

"You can't see it?" Edward asked her.

She shook her head nervously. The other two frowned confused.

"What Edward?" Bella asked.

"Jaq sees people's auras." He explained. "She can see all of ours except… yours." He frowned looking at Bella speculatively. "I wonder…" He murmured.

"Do you think it has something to do with my shield?" Bella asked him. Jaq raised her eyebrows. Shield? What was this? Lord of the Rings?

Edward smiled. "Bella has a mental shield. She can stop people using their powers on her mind. For instance, right now, I can't hear what she's thinking."

"Until I lift my shield." She added, he smile mirroring his.

"You think her shield is blocking Jaq, Edward?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm certain."

"Shall I try lifting it off?" Bella asked.

Edward nodded. "If you would, love."

Bella's face filled with concentration for a moment and suddenly Jaq could see her aura. It was a light blue colour, almost the same shade as Edward's just without the red. She relaxed. None of them had too bad auras. They looked like they should be nice people.

"You have nothing to be afraid of." Edward smiled. "None of us are going to hurt you."

Jaq smiled tentatively. She was starting to believe that. _Slowly._

"Can you like tell things about people by their aura?" Bella asked.

Jaq nodded.

"What can you tell about me?" She lifted her shield again. Jaq hesitated. She tended to get into it a bit when she did this...

"Ermm, you've never killed anyone, you feel things _really_ deeply. You're probably quite prone to clumsiness – or at least you _were_ when you were human. You seem to be connected to… Edward on some spiritual level like… Alice and Jasper. You also hold love for two other people." She frowned in concentration. She liked doing this though, she felt herself relaxing and getting into it. "No not two - three. A different kind of love though – a family love. Actually it was probably something more at one point with one of them. Not anymore though… You worry a lot too. About your family. At the moment you're anxious about something. I'm not sure what… a family member maybe…? Oh I'm sorry I'm going on a bit aren't I?" She bit her lip embarassed.

"Wow." Bella whispered, gaping.

"Was I right?" She asked. It was always helpful to check she was reading it right.

"Dead on."

Jaq smiled. Mabye these people weren't so bad.

"That's an impressive talent." Edward noted.

"Thankyou."

"Renesmee and Jacob should be getting back soon." Bella noted, looking at her watch.

"I should probably get back." Jaq said. "They'll be wondering where I am."

They all stood up and walked to the front door. There was no sign of the others.

Carlisle looked over to Jaq. "Are you planning to stay in the area long?" He asked. "I know the others would love to meet you properly."

"Ermm, I don't know." Jaq answered, trying to avoid a definite answer. She still wasn't completely sure she could trust them. "We haven't decided yet. We've just been looking around."

"Well, do bring the other two over. It's so rare that we meet new people we don't have to lie to."

"I'll see what I can do." Jaq said before she sprinted off.


	2. Nightmares

"Jaq!"

"Hey, Nathan."

"I was so worried about you. I thought something had happened." Nathan was beside himself. "I was _so_ close to running off after you to check you were okay."

"I'm fine." Jaq smiled.

"What happened?"

"I found some other vampires." She explained. "Remember that scent we smelt on the way in? That was them."

"Other vampires?" Nathan looked worried. "How many? What did they do to you?"

"There were eight, but they didn't do anything. They're vegetarians like us and I couldn't pick up anything particularly bad on their auras."

"_Eight_?" He asked incredulously.

Jaq nodded. "It was scary at first but I _think_ they're okay."

"You _sure_?"

"Not absolutely certain, at least three of them have got talents, but they _seem_ to be alright. They invited me back."

"What did you say?"

"I said I'd think about it. I wanted you to check them out before I started trusting them."

He smiled. "You have more insight to these things than I do."

"I still wanted you to check them out first."

He rolled his eyes. "What do you think we should do?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." Jaq frowned, sitting down on the sofa. "How about … wait until morning. Go get some food for Connor down the road, then maybe check them out. If we still don't trust them we could just move on to somewhere else. We were going to anyway."

He nodded. "Okay, that sounds smart."

"Jaq?" Came a small voice from the doorway. She looked up.

"Connor, what are you doing up?"

"I had a nightmare." He shrugged.

"Again?"

He nodded and she sighed. She held out her arms and he walked over to hug her.

"Can I sleep out here with you two?" He asked.

Jaq looked over to Nathan. He shrugged and she sighed.

"Okay then. I suppose." He grinned and laid his head down on her lap. "Straight to sleep though." She warned, stroking his hair. He nodded and closed his eyes.

"Did he stay asleep while I was out?" She asked too low for Connor to hear.

Nathan shook his head. "He woke up at least three times with nightmares since you left."

Jaq sighed. "Poor kid." She whispered.


	3. Noodles

"Shop brand or Food brand?" Jaq asked holding the two packets of noodles.

Connor shrugged. "I dunno."

"You're the one who eats them, kid." Said Nathan with a grin. "Not us."

"They both taste the same to me." Connor replied glumly.

"Hey," Jaq frowned. "Cheer up sweetie. It's okay."

"I miss them, Jaq."

She smiled sadly. "I miss them too." She pulled him into a hug. "But we've got to keep going - for them. Okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I know…" He looked at the two packets of pasta in her hand. "They really do both taste the same you know."

Jaq sighed and rolled her eyes theatrically. "Well how are we supposed to choose, eh?"

"Oh! I know!" Nathan exclaimed grabbing the pasta and putting them behind his back. "Which hand?"

"I bet he picks the right." Said the girl on the other side of the isle. It was Alice. How had they not noticed her there?

"Hello." Jaq said shocked.

"Hey Jaq." She grinned, her face as bright as her aura.

"I take it this is…" Nathan trailed off. Jaq nodded.

"Yeah, I met her yesterday."

"Hi!" Alice beamed. "I'm Alice." She held out a hand.

Nathan shook it. "I'm…"

"…Nathan." Alice finished for him. He looked sideways at Jaq. She mouthed the word psychic and Alice giggled.

"Oh."

Connor stepped forward confidently and held his hand out. "Hello, I'm Connor."

"Alice." She grinned and shook his hand. Then looked up to Jaq. "So do you want to come back with me? The others are _dying_ to see you all."

Jaq hesitated and looked at Nathan. He shrugged his shoulders.

"They're not sure they can trust you." Connor explained.

Jaq felt her mouth drop. "No… I … we…"

Alice gave a tinkling laugh. "It's okay, Edward told us you didn't trust us yet. So… are you coming?"

"O-okay…"

"Great." Alice grinned. "I just need to buy a few things and then we'll go." She held up the basket of food in her hand. Jaq frowned for a moment then realised it was probably for appearances.

"Yeah, we'd better pay for this too."

"Meet you at the doors." Alice said before walking towards the freezer section.

"I guess we'll just have to be on our guard." Jaq said as she chucked the Food Brand pasta into the basket.

"I think she seems alright," Nathan mused. "But yeah like you said we'll just be on our guard."

"I like her." Connor chirped up.

Jaq smiled at him – he was always so trusting - and together they walked towards the cashier.


	4. Human

"Hey guyyyysss," Alice sang as they stepped through the front door. "Look who's heeeerrrreeee..."

She led them into the lounge where they were all sat down. Bella and Edward were on the love seat by the door, Carlisle and Esme were sat on the sofa with Jasper, Rosalie was sat on the sofa opposite and Emmett was on the floor by her feet. They all looked up to the doorway.

Jaq felt herself tense again. There were so _many_ of them. She felt Nathan tense behind her too. Connor however, was completely comfortable.

"Have a seat." Carlisle gestured to the empty part of sofa next to Rosalie.

"Hello again." Bella smiled as they sat down.

"Hi…" Jaq said shyly. She was slightly more comfortable than she was yesterday. It was probably something to do with Connor and Nathan being with her.

"Hi," Connor smiled. "I'm Connor and this is Nathan." _How could he be so relaxed?_

"Hello Connor," Carlisle smiled. "and Nathan." He introduced the rest of the family. "I'm Carlisle, this is my wife, Esme, and this is Jasper, Bella, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett. We call ourselves the Cullen family around the humans but none of us are actually biologically related."

"There's … ahem… quite a lot of you." Said Nathan.

Carlisle laughed. "Yes, we do seem to have become quite a big group over time. But you mustn't feel threatened."

"Yeah…" Nathan murmured unconvinced.

"So where are you guys from?" Bella asked. "You don't sound American."

"England. We all came from the same area in fact."

"How long have you been in America?"

"Just under a year."

"Not long then?"

"No."

At that point there was laughter in the hallway and three other people walked in to the room. Two were very tall Indian boys probably in their twenties, one slightly taller and older looking than the other. The older looking one was carrying a young girl with coppery bangs. She looked about seven physically but her eyes seemed much older.

"Is this…?" The girl asked in a tinkling voice. Both Jaq and Nathan flinched at the sound. The girl had a very shiny yellow aura that sparkled gold in the light and she smelt weird – like nothing Jaq had ever smelt before. Jaq frowned. Was that a heart-beat she could hear? It couldn't be – it was too fast… like a bird's...

"This is Jaq, Nathan and Connor." Alice grinned jumping up. "I told you they would come, didn't I?"

The tall Indian laughed. "Wow the gypsy lady was right." Alice hit his arm with a frown. "Oww." He complained.

"You know you deserved it, Jacob."

"It was just a _joke_."

"_Sure_ it was."

The girl laughed then turned to the others. "Hi, I'm Renesmee but you can call me Nessie," She grinned. "And this doofus next to me is Jacob." She joked in a way that no seven year old should.

Jacob made a theatrical gasp. "I'm not a _doofus_!"

Renesmee giggled.

"I beg to differ." Rosalie muttered.

Jaq watched Jacob - His brown-yellow aura was shimmering red. The other Indian boy's sandy coloured aura was the same. That was weird. She'd never seen that before…

"Jacob and Seth are werewolves," Edward explained. "Or shape shifters … to be more accurate." Obviously he had heard her thought.

"That would explain the smell…" Nathan said.

"Huh?" _Smell_? It was the girl who smelt … not the boys.

"How can you not smell that?" asked Nathan incredulously.

"Smell what?" Jaq asked confused. "What does it smell like?"

"It smells like…." He wrinkled his nose. "Wet dog."

Rosalie laughed.

Jaq shook her head. "I can't smell it."

"Wow…" Said Seth looking at Jacob. "That's weird…"

"Uhu…" he replied. "You can smell Nessie though, right?" He nodded towards Renesmee.

"Yeah, I can smell her…" Jaq said. "It's a weird smell though. I've never smelt it before." Renesmee laughed.

"I'm a half-vampire," She explained as her, Jacob and Seth sat on the floor by Bella and Edward. She pointed to the couple above them. "And these two are my biological parents." She laughed again at their confused expressions and, seeming bored of the conversation, began making faces at Connor.

"Oh." Jaq said surprised. Well, that explained the heartbeat.

"I didn't know you could even get those…" Nathan said next to her.

Bella laughed. "Neither did we."

"So, what about you guys?" Asked Emmett. "Which of you changed the other?"

Jaq laughed. As if _she_ could've changed him…

"What's so funny?"

"Jaq isn't actually venomous." Nathan explained.

"Huh?"

"We don't know why." Jaq shrugged. "I was changed with venom… we just don't know where it went."

"Hang on," Emmett said frowning. "You can't smell the dogs and you're not venomous…" He looked at the others. "I don't think she's a vampire."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Ignore him." She said to Jaq. "He says that about me all the time."

"That's because you're too _tame_."

"So, how did you meet?" Bella asked ignoring him.

"She was lying on the road, dying of a stab wound." Said Nathan. He seemed calmer, though he did seem to be avoiding eye contact with the werewolves. Obviously he didn't trust them. It wasn't a surprise really – he'd never met one before. "So I changed her. I couldn't just leave her there..."

"Carlisle's like that." Esme said smiling. "He only changed us when we were dying anyway."

"You changed _all_ of them?"

"No," Carlisle shook his head. "Only Edward, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett. Edward changed Bella and Alice and Jasper came on their own."

"I was gonna say…" Nathan muttered.

Jaq smiled and looked down to Connor. His stomach made a loud rumble. He grinned at her apologetically and she laughed.

"You hungry, kid?" Jacob asked him.

Connor nodded.

"Come on," He beckoned. "Let's go get something to eat."

Connor looked up to Jaq and she nodded. He ran off after Seth, Jacob and Renesmee.

"He's sweet." Rosalie remarked. "How old is he?"

"He's just turned twelve."

Rosalie smiled sadly. "Wish I could have children."

"That's the thing I wish I could get back." Jaq replied with a similar expression.

"Alice," Said Seth from the doorway. "Did you buy any ketchup?"

Jaq suddenly realised what Alice had been buying the food for – not for appearances at all.

"Yeah," Alice frowned. "I put it in the fridge. Is it not there now?"

"I'll go have another look." Seth said as he left the room.


	5. Watched

Jaq looked out of the window. It was nearing the end of the day. Maybe they should think about leaving. Connor needed to sleep. She could see his eyelids drooping as he joked with Renesmee.

"You know," Said Edward looking at her. "You are very welcome to stay. We have plenty of room here."

Carlisle nodded in agreement. "We would be delighted to have you stay."

"And it's Nessie's birthday on Friday. We'd love to have some more party guests."

"Not that we don't have loads already." Bella laughed. "But it would be lovely to have someone closer to her age."

"I ... err..." Jaq began.

"Oh please can we?" Connor pleaded. "_Please_ Jaq. Nathan tell her."

"I don't know kid." Nathan murmured looking at the wolves.

"_Guys_." Connor whined.

Jaq looked at Nathan who was sat beside her. She could tell he still wasn't comfortable here.

_Do you think it's safe? _His expression seemed to scream.

Jaq bit her lip and considered. This family, strange as they were, did seem to be okay. She even felt comfortable with the shape shifters, despite Nathan's obvious distrust. None of the auras in this room seemed dangerous.

She looked down to Connor's pleading expression and sighed. How could she disappoint that?

"Okay..."

"YES!" Connor made a kerrching motion with his arm.

"But," She warned. "I want you to go to bed right now. You are way too tired."

He rolled his eyes. "Alright."

Renesmee and Rosalie jumped up. "Come with us. We'll find you a room."

"I'll come and see you in a bit." Jaq promised as they left the room.

The wolves stayed in the same place but Jaq noticed Jacob's eyes follow Renesmee out the door.

She turned to Nathan who was looking at her with raised eyebrows.

_I think they're okay. _She tried to communicate silently and squeezed his hand to comfort him.

He regarded her silently for a moment, then shrugged and nodded. As usual he had complete faith in her assessment - despite what had happened in the past.

"So," Carlisle asked. "Do you stay in one place often?"

Nathan shook his head. "We move around a lot. It's easier that way - for us." He answered. Jaq noticed he was so much more comfortable than he had been before her people assessment. It killed her that he still trusted her so absolutely.

"What about Connor? He's still quite young. What do you do about school?"

"We teach him. I know a lot of history - for obvious reasons - and I was also pretty good at maths when I was human." He grinned and looked at Jaq. "And Jaq helps him with English. She's amazingly gifted at languages so she's been teaching him those..." His grin grew wider. "Along with other things." He winked at her.

Edward laughed and the others looked confused.

"What languages?" He asked Jaq ignoring the curious eyes.

"French, Spanish, Italian and Nathan's been teaching me Greek."

Both Seth's and Jacob's mouths flew open and they looked at each other and back to Jaq at exactly the same time. Jaq would've laughed, if she wasn't so embarrassed.

"And you say you're only three years old?"

Jaq nodded.

"That's impressive."

"Thanks..." She shrugged. "But I was already fluent in French and Spanish when I was human. It's not really a big deal. I picked up Italian when we stayed there last year."

"Italy?" Bella made a face. "You didn't meet the Volturi did you?"

Jaq stiffened. Nathan had told her of these Italian Vampires and she had no desire to ever meet them.

"No we steered _well_ clear of them." Nathan answered for her.

Bella shuddered.

Before anyone could say anything else there was a loud howl from outside. Jaq and Nathan tensed but the others stayed relaxed.

"Sounds like Quil and Embry have got something for us." Jacob said as he and Seth stood up. They both walked out the room and Edward and Bella stood up too.

"Want to see some giant mutated dogs?" Bella asked Jaq and Nathan with a grin.

"S-sure." Jaq exchanged a look with Nathan and they both stood up and followed Bella and Edward outside.

On the front lawn there were four huge – big as horses - wolves. Jaq suppressed a gasp and stepped back nearer to Nathan who tensed up.

The wolves seemed to be having some sort of conversation though no sound could be heard. Jaq could tell that the biggest wolf with ruddy brown fur was Jacob and the smallest sandy coloured wolf was Seth because their auras were the same as when they were human. She noticed the auras of the wolves were the same colour as their fur with the same red shimmer that Jacob and Seth had. It must've been a wolf thing. The other two wolves – one with the chocolate coloured fur and aura and the one with mahogany coloured fur – were between the sizes of Jacob and Seth - the chocolate coloured wolf slightly bigger than the mahogany.

"What's going on Edward?" Bella asked.

"They caught Jaq and Nathan's scent and wanted to check they were friends."

As Edward said that the mahogany wolf turned his head in their direction. He caught eyes with Jaq and she froze. His stare was penetrating but she couldn't look away. It didn't seem like he could either. His wide brown eyes that were far too intelligent to belong to a normal animal stared at her like she was something entirely new to him – like he had never seen anything like her before. Jaq stopped breathing at the intensity of his expression.

The other wolves had noticed his distraction and were looking back and forward between the pair with shocked expressions. Bella and Edward's faces were similar.

"Oh. My. God." Bella whispered.

Nathan grabbed Jaq's arm and pulled her backwards away from the wolves. But the wolf continued to stare. From the corner of her eye, Jaq noticed both Edward and Jacob nodding a yes as if someone had asked them to do something. Though no one had said anything.

"Lets go back inside." Edward said quietly still in shock at whatever had just happened. He held the door open for them and Nathan pulled Jaq towards the door.

All the while that she walked through the door the wolf watched her with the same expression.

They walked back into the lounge which was now empty. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett must have left when they were outside. They sat back down on the sofas and Jaq frowned. Why had that wolf been looking at her so strangely? What was his problem?

Before she had a chance to ask Jacob and Seth walked back into the room. Their faces were still shocked.

"Hey... ermm... Jaq isn't it?" Jacob asked without even sitting down. Jaq nodded cautiously. "You said you weren't venomous right?"

Jaq nodded again. Where was he leading with this?

"And this guy, Nathan," Jacob gestured to Nathan. "He's not like... your _mate_ or anything is he?"

"No," Jaq shook her head confused at his nervous expression. "He's always been more of a brother to me. Never anything like that."

Jacob and Seth relaxed and Bella gave a sigh of relief.

"I guess that's lucky then." Jacob smiled jokingly now. "That could've been difficult." He sat down and laid his head back, closing his eyes.

"What exactly was that?" Jaq asked. "Why was that wolf looking at me like that?"

Jacob's eyes snapped open again. "What? I don't know what you mean."

"He was watching Jaq with the oddest expression I have ever seen." Nathan said frowning. "There was definatly something going on there."

"Nope, sorry. No idea."

"Edward?" Jaq asked. "What was going on?" He would know. He would've been able to read the wolf's thoughts.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." He shrugged. He was better at lying than Jacob.

Jaq narrowed her eyes and stood up. "I'm going to go check Connor." She said as she left the room.


	6. Confusion

Jaq came back down into the lounge to Emmett, Rosalie and Nathan talking together. When she came through the door Rosalie and Emmett grinned. Obviously they had been told the big secret now.

"Okay, what the _hell_ is going on?" She asked frowning.

"Nothing."

"Nathan?"

"Jaq, nothing's going on." So he was in on the secret now too. Well that was just _fine_. She narrowed her eyes and sat down.

"So," Emmett grinned. "I was wondering. Isn't Jack a boy's name?"

"Yeah, but my name's short for Jacqueline." She grimaced. "I'm Jaq with a 'q'."

"Right," His grin widened. "So I can call you Jacqueline?"

"No," She made a face. "No _way_."

"Jacqui?"

"No."

"Aww..."

"Seriously, don't."

"Fine, Jaq-with-a-q it is."

"You have a sad sense of humour."

"Finally," Rosalie grinned. "Someone else notices."

Alice skipped into the lounge with a huge grin on her face. "Hey guys, guess wh-a-at?" She sang.

"What Alice?" Emmett sighed. "I was in the _middle_ of making fun of Jaq-with-a-q."

"Oh har har." Jaq made a face.

Alice rolled her eyes and her face lit up again. "_Anyway_ .... I was thinking... since its Nessie's birthday on....." She stopped and her face blanked. "Oh."

"What is it Alice?" Rosalie asked concerned. "What did you see?"

"I-" Alice murmured. "The others...they're coming."

"What others?" Jaq asked.

"When I saw you guys coming," Alice explained. "Immediately after I had a vision of these other vampires coming too."

"Other...vampires?"

"Yeah. At least four or five of them." Alice nodded. "One of them keeps changing their mind though."

_Four or five?_ "What did they look like?" Jaq asked nonchalantly avoiding Nathan's worried glance.

"Well all of them have red eyes so they're not vegetarians. Err..." She closed her eyes in concentration. "Two males, both blonde and three females one blonde, one brunette and one braided."

Jaq felt faint. "Delano." She whispered glancing at Nathan. He had frozen in place with a similar expression to hers. "Oh God..."

Nathan stood up in one swift motion. "We'll have to leave."

Jaq nodded. "I'll go get Connor."

"Hey, now," Emmett said blocking the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Do you know them?" Alice asked.

Jaq nodded stiffly. "I'm so sorry. I- We shouldn't have stayed here." She gabbled. "We led them here. Should've thought...oh ... _god_ I'm so sorry..."

"Who are they?" Rosalie frowned. "Why are you guys so scared of them? Why are they following you?"

Jaq took in a long breath calming herself. "It's Delano's clan. They- they're the reason Connor's parents, my brother, died..."

"What's so scary about them?" Emmett asked. "There're more of us than there is of them."

"Delano is... very power hungry..." Nathan explained stiffly. "He only allows those with talents in his clan. His ambition is to take over the Volturi."

"Don't the Volturi know about them?"

"No, not yet. Delano has thus far managed to keep himself quiet. His plan is to attack when they're not expecting it."

"Well, he sounds like the regular psycho."

"He's dangerous." Jaq shuddered. "I'm so sorry. We led them here. We need to leave before they get to you..."

"Hang on you can't just leave!"

"We can't lead them here and put you in danger!" Jaq cried. "Not after what you've done for us..."

"Hang on," Alice said calmly. "Just think this through for a moment. They're going to come here if you leave or not. I can see that far. You leaving here will be pointless."

"But-"

"You'll be safer with us. Like Emmett said, we'll outnumber them easily."

"But Alice, I don't think you understand how-"

"The wolves will almost certainly help, especially as..." Alice trailed off and looked away. Emmett laughed. Nathan frowned, not amused, next to her.

"They'll defiantly help." He grinned impishly at Jaq. She felt confused. Obviously she was missing something. "And besides," He said slightly more seriously. "You can't prevent me from fighting the bad guys. That's just cruel."

"I-" Jaq hesitated.

"I don't know." Nathan murmured. "It makes sense, but I don't feel comfortable dragging you guys into it..."

Alice grinned. "Don't worry we're experts at this."

Emmett snorted. "Yeah the amount of vamps that have tried to kill Bella."

"Jaq, Nathan," Rosalie smiled. "You realise that even if we let you go, Carlisle and Esme wouldn't. Of course neither would the do-" She coughed disguising the rest of her sentence.

Emmett gave a booming laugh again and Jaq frowned at him. _What the hell....?_


	7. Meeting

In the end the wolves agreed to help. Both packs, Jaq couldn't fathom out why. They agreed to have a meeting in the meadow to hear what the vampires were like. They had brought Nessie and Connor with them as neither Jaq nor Jacob could bear to leave them behind. The two of them were now sleeping on the grass next to Rosalie under blankets they had brought with them.

Jaq sat on the ground of the meadow staring out at the late night sky. Why did Delano have to come now? Just when they had found a family and friends. It was so cruel...

"Are you ready Jaq?" Nathan asked. "Edward said the wolves will be arriving in about two minutes."

Jaq stood up and nodded her head shakily. "Yeah, I'm ready..." She mumbled.

Nathan frowned. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" He asked. "It would be better if you explained them because you see much more than I do, but if you don't think you can..." He trailed off and Jaq shook her head.

"No I'm fine. I'm just not so good talking to a lot of people..."

Nathan smiled. "Yeah I guessed."

"They're here." Edward murmured just a few metres away.

Jaq looked up to the trees on the other side of the clearing. The first wolf to appear was a huge red-brown one - Jacob. He was followed by his four other pack members and they sat in a group near Edward and Bella.

Jaq glanced over to them. That wolf was watching her with the same expression again. She froze and looked back to the trees. Nathan growled under his breath. She half wondered what was bothering him but was distracted by what was coming out of the trees.

After Jacob's pack came a much larger group of wolves. This group was lead by a large grey wolf that was second in size only to Jacob. He was followed by four larger wolves and a group of much smaller wolves. Jaq frowned. They must've been really young. Probably too young to get mixed up in things like this.

They stopped a little further away from the vampires than Jacob's pack. Obviously they weren't as comfortable as the other pack. The younger wolves in particular were very edgy.

Once they were all seated Carlisle stepped up into the gap that had become a sort of stage.

"Thank you for coming." He said quietly. "For whatever reasons you have for being here, I thank you all." He glanced over to the wolf with the weird expression. "This meeting is to let you know what we're all up against." He said talking to everyone again. "It would appear that these are extremely dangerous vampires and we need to prepare ourselves in every way possible to beat them. Jaq who has come into close contact with them before has volunteered to explain this clan to us all." He indicated for her to come over.

She took in a shaking breath and walked over to stand by him. He patted her shoulder and walked back to stand by Esme.

Jaq bit her lip and glanced back to Nathan, he gave a nod and a reassuring smile. She took a deep breath and began to speak. She fingered the pearl necklace around her neck nervously as she spoke.

"Yes, well, as Carlisle said, they are a very dangerous coven." She said shakily. There was _so many of them_. She avoided any eye contact and spoke to the grass instead. "Delano is very power hungry and only allows vampires with talents into his coven. Delano is a very old and experienced vampire. I'm not sure how old exactly but he is certainly very skilled at fighting. He controls electricity and lightning so attacking him will be difficult. He doesn't speak much at all but spends the time others spend talking, calculating and scheming. He is a very smart and intelligent vampire, so outsmarting him will also be difficult."

Jaq took another breath and continued slowly becoming more comfortable with the audience.

"His mate, Claudia is also fairly ancient." She continued. "She doesn't speak at all. The only person who has ever heard her speak is Delano. Nathan says she is the most powerful tracker he has ever come across so running from the clan won't work at all. Delano feels very deeply for her so I suppose she could be thought of as his weakness. I've never seen her fight though so I'm not sure how difficult she would be to take down.

"The other male of the coven is Dante and... well... I suppose you could think of him as an evil version of Emmett." She heard Emmett sniggering loudly behind her and smiled. "He's well built and is always up for a fight. He's quite cocky and I suppose that could be his weakness if you could find a way around that. He can possess and control animals which though it sounds a little stupid can be really bad in a fight for you.

"His mate, Evelyn is probably one of the most dangerous. She has a very innocent way about her that makes you think she's a nice person. She's not. Don't trust her. I call her the most dangerous because by simply making eye contact with you she can make you believe _anything_. She can make you believe that the reason you're fighting her is stupid and then attack you before you can do anything. She's very vain and shallow because of her beauty so if you can use that to your advantage it might save you.

"The last of them is Prudence. She is the youngest and newest addition to the coven but is in no way the weakest. If anything she is the most powerful. She is a very rare vampire as she has two talents - two very dangerous talents. She can control and create the element fire is every way possible and can make you feel thirsty. For a human this means that they feel they're dying of dehydration. For a vampire this means that you will attack any humans nearby. However she only creates the illusion of thirst so I think that Bella's shield may be able to block her. Delano is very adamant that she stays with them because of her powers but according to Alice she keeps changing her mind about staying with them. We don't know why this is so I say don't trust her until we fathom it out...

"So, that's umm... all of them..." Jaq looked over the audience into every set of eyes. "I- I just want to say, I don't know all of the reasons why you want to help but- I can't tell you how thankful I am..." Jaq stepped back to Nathan, who put his arm around her comfortingly.

Jasper took her play on the stage and began talking tactics. Jaq twisted her head back to Nathan.

"How did I do?" She whispered.

"Great." He smiled.

"You sure?"

He nodded, still smiling. Jaq smiled back and turned to listen to Jasper. He was just finishing talking tactics on Prudence.

"...and so if we prevent Bella from being too distracted it would save us from her latter power." The crowd of wolves nodded. "Is there any questions?"

The big grey wolf looked over to Edward who nodded and turned to the others.

"Sam wants his younger pack members to become used to our smells so they can smell the difference between enemy and not." He explained. "If we could all stay very still, they aren't very comfortable around us."

Jasper nodded and gestured to the wolves. Jaq stood very still as one by one the wolves got up and walked around them. She couldn't help feeling sorry for the young wolves - most of them looked terrified. They'd obviously never been so close to vampires before. Jaq frowned, wondering again why they had to be dragged in so young.

Jacob's pack stayed sat where they were the whole time - they already knew the scents well enough. The mahogany wolf continued to watch her with the same expression. _What was his problem? _

The wolves from Sam's pack finished familiarising themselves with the scents and stepped back to their original place - many of the younger wolves looking relieved.


	8. Insane

Jaq poured the Cheerios into a bowl and passed it to Connor.

"Thanks Jaq." He grinned as he began to eat.

Edward frowned. "Don't you want any milk with that?"

"Urgh, no." Connor made a face. "That's so wrong."

"Oh," Edward laughed. "Okay then."

Jaq smiled and sat down next to Connor. As he munched the dry cereals she watched Edward's sparkling blue aura. She could see the red tinge at the edges and the colour reminded her of the werewolves' red shimmer – one werewolf in particular.

Why did he keep looking at her so weirdly? What had she ever done to him?

She narrowed her eyes at Edward. He knew what was going on. Why wouldn't he tell her?

"Edward," She began.

"Jaq," He sighed. "For the last time..."

"Who did you kill?" She asked changing her question at the last second.

Her question threw him off. "I-ermm-I went through bit of a rebellious phase when I was first changed." He looked uncomfortable with the conversation. "I didn't want to be restricted with my... eating habits..."

"So you ate people?" Connor asked, his mouth full of Cheerios.

"Connor, don't talk with your mouth full."

"Sorry Jaq."

"Yeah," Edward sighed. "I used to eat humans."

Jaq nodded. "Don't worry." She said. "I can see you regret it. I was just wondering."

Edward made a disgusted face. "Doesn't mean I'm not still guilty of it."

Jaq made a sympathetic face. "If you feel guilty about it then it's okay." She smiled. "It means you've become a better person."

"I suppose..."

"So anyway," She frowned. "Gonna tell me what's going on with that wolf?"

"Jaq," He sighed. "I told you I don't know anything..."

Connor giggled into his cereals.

-~*~-

"Where are you going with this?" Jaq asked suspiciously.

"So, I was thinking if you guys are going to be at Nessie's party I should make sure you have something _amazing_ to wear." Alice grinned. "You can't have many clothes if you travel around so much."

"Uh oh." Bella laughed. "I would run while you can Jaq."

Alice made a face. "I'm just trying to be _nice_."

"More like you found someone new to use as a living Barbie doll." Bella laughed again.

Alice shrugged. "Same difference."

"I was just going to wear what I'm wearing now..." Jaq said hesitantly.

Alice gasped loudly. "No way. You can't wear that!"

"Why? What's wrong with it?"

"Jeans and a t-shirt...the _ultimate sin_." Bella said ominously, making fun of Alice.

"Shh you. Come on," Alice grinned grabbing Jaq's arm and pulling her upstairs into her and Jasper's room. "I have something that's _perfect_."

She forced Jaq into a chair that faced away from the mirror and disappeared into a room-sized closet.

"I would be afraid if I was you." Bella grinned. She had followed them into the room and was now sat on the arm of the sofa opposite.

"Why isn't she like this with you?" Jaq asked grumpily.

"She is." Bella laughed. "She's already picked out what the rest of us are wearing. Including Nathan and Connor."

Jaq raised her eyebrows. "She's _insane_."

"Yeah, she is." Bella agreed laughing.

"Excuse me, I heard that."

Alice was back. She was carrying a black dress bag in her arms and she put it down on the end of the sofa.

"Okay hair first." Alice grinned. "Rose?" She called quietly.

Rosalie came into the room with a confused expression. She was already wearing a bright red ball gown. "What is it Alice?"

"I need your expert hairdressing skills."

"Oh." Rosalie smiled. "Re-inventing Jaq for the party?"

"Amongst other things." Alice winked and Bella giggled. Jaq frowned confused. _What?_

Rosalie began to direct the other two and between them they pinned Jaq's hair all up until it was so tight that it didn't move.

"There." Rosalie smiled in satisfaction. "Gorgeous."

"Okay the dress now." Alice grinned, her eyes sparkling.

This was the bit Jaq had been dreading she gulped as Alice unzipped the bag and brought out an old fashioned looking ivory white dress. She made a face. It was just as bad as she'd been expecting.

"Oooo... is that...-?" Bella asked.

"Yeah." Alice smiled. "It's from the same designer who made your wedding dress."

_What?!_ Jaq's eyes widened. "You're putting me in a _wedding dress_?"

"No." Alice denied innocently. "It's a cocktail dress."

"You can't fool me. Cocktail dresses are knee length."

Alice narrowed her eyes. "I can _force_ you wear the dress if I have to."

"You know." Jaq said looking at the dress with an ominous expression. "I'm pretty sure that torture is illegal."

"Human laws don't apply to us." Alice grinned. "Now put it on and stop complaining."

Jaq sighed and realising she was fighting a losing battle stripped off her clothes and put on the dress.

"You'll thank me later." Alice said as she did up the back.

"Sure I will." Jaq muttered.

Rosalie laughed and left the room with Bella.

"Okay, shoes."

Jaq grimaced as Alice brought out a pair of four inch heels in the colour of the dress but she put them on without a fuss.

"Okay are you ready?" Asked Alice. Jaq didn't answer, she felt like an idiot already. She didn't need to see it to believe it. Undeterred by the lack of response Alice spun her around to face the mirror. "Tadaa."

Jaq looked at her reflection. Her already curly brown hair was twisted up elegantly and the pearls matched the dress perfectly.

"Urgh." Yep, she looked just as stupid as she felt.

"You look amaaaaaazing." Alice sang. "Okay now stay here while I get changed." She glared at her. "Don't even think about taking any of that off."

She skipped out of the room and Jaq sat back down.

"I feel like an overdressed clown."

Rosalie laughed. "Trust me. You don't look it."

Jaq grimaced, not agreeing.

Alice came back into the room with Bella both wearing ball gowns, Alice's a shiny golden colour and Bella's a light blue.

"Okay, we're done here." Alice smiled as she linked her arm in Jaq's. "Let's go downstairs. People are already here."

"One last thing," Jaq grabbed her pearl necklace and put it back around her neck. It didn't match but she was more comfortable. "That's better." She smiled.

Alice grimaced but didn't object. She dragged her outside where a huge amount of people were already talking and dancing. On closer inspection Jaq noticed that it was a mixture of vampires and werewolves, Connor was the only human there. There was so many of them, but for some reason she wasn't scared of them like she would've been usually. It must've been the Cullen's influence.

"Alice!" Smiled a strawberry blonde female. "How are you?"

"Hi Tanya, when did you arrive?"

"About twenty minutes ago."

"I hope you're well."

"I'm fine thanks."

"Oh," Alice remembered. "This is Jaq by the way."

"Ah yes. Carlisle told me you had visitors." Tanya smiled. "Hello Jaq."

"Hi." Jaq answered shyly.

"So you're English?"

Jaq nodded.

"Which part?"

"London."

"Ah," Tanya smiled again. "Carlisle was a Londoner. But I expect he's already told you that..."

"Alice," Came a booming voice from behind them. They turned around to find a very imposing African vampire woman. "I must to thank you for the present you sent me last week. It was very beautiful and quite unnecessary."

"It was nothing Zafrina." Alice smiled. "I saw it in town and it reminded me instantly of you."


	9. Timid

Jaq shuffled uncomfortably. The huge amount of vampires was beginning to affect her and she looked around for an escape. She noticed an empty outdoor balcony – the perfect place to escape this party.

"I'm just going to go over there..." She mumbled as she walked away. Once up the stairs she felt more comfortable. There were less people and she felt less threatened.

Jaq gave a sigh of relief and looked out on the balcony. It was a summer's evening and the breeze was warm against her cold skin. She looked out over the party going on below and thought about the people she had met here. The Cullens. They seemed to be nice people. Connor certainly liked them anyway. She saw him below dancing with, the child, Renesmee and Jacob. He seemed to be getting on really well with them. Especially Renesmee. It wasn't a surprise really, he hadn't been able to have much contact with other children since... Well, since the fire...

She watched his delighted expression and smiled. As long as he was happy, she was happy.

"Hi," Said a shy voice from behind her. She turned around. It was a tall Indian boy, like Seth and Jacob but some how even more beautiful. Despite the obvious muscles he seemed to be thinner than the others had been. His skin was a gorgeous light brown and he had the biggest brown eyes she had ever seen. His aura was a mahogany brown with a red shimmer. It was the werewolf, who had been looking at her strangely yesterday. He was looking at her now with the same expression. _Weird._

"Hey." She replied timidly, scared a little by the intensity of his stare. He however, seemed to be just as nervous as she was. That was comforting.

She watched his aura. It gave off the impression of quite a shy person – just like her – but it was hard to be sure. She found these werewolves difficult to read.

"I-ermm-like your dress." He complimented hesitantly.

"Thanks," She replied, still nervous. "I was attacked by Alice though. I had no choice in the matter. I could look like a total fool and not be allowed to do anything about it."

"I wouldn't worry," He smiled. "It suits you."

"Thank you."

There was an awkward silence. Jaq kept her eyes off the boy next to her and watched instead the others dancing below. She could feel his gaze on the side of her face though and took a sip of the champagne in her hand.

"How can you drink that?"

"Sorry?"

"The champagne. I didn't think vampires could digest our food."

"It's a liquid," She explained. "They're easier for us to process because our bodies are made for liquids."

"Oh," He replied. "Because it's similar to blood, right?"

Jaq looked at his face carefully. He didn't seem disgusted at all. Not like most of the other werewolves usually seemed to be at any mention of the vampires' eating habits.

"Doesn't that gross you out?" She asked curious.

"What?"

"The fact that we drink blood. It doesn't seem to bother you at all."

"Oh, that." He said understanding. "Well, it used to but then I met …" He trailed off, blushing. Jaq watched his face curiously but didn't push it.

"So," She said changing the subject. "Do you live near-by or…?"

"I live in La Push, the Quileute reservation."

"Really? What's it like there?"

"Not that bad." He shrugged. "A lot of cliffs…there's beaches too... oh yeah and a lot of tourists."

"Sounds nice. Have you lived there your whole life?" She asked. She felt an inexplicable desire to know everything about this boy.

"Yeah, born and bred." He smiled. "My mom owns a convenience store there and everything."

"You live with your family?"

"Just my mom and my step brother, Ben. He's probably about the same age as your nephew….?" He looked at her unable to remember his name.

"Connor."

"Connor, yeah. He looks just like you, you know…." He trailed off with an odd expression on his face. Almost like he was trying to work out how to phrase something. "Are you- ? Do you-?" He stuttered.

"What?"

"Are you going to- to change him?" the boy asked hesitantly. "When he gets older, I mean."

Jaq sighed. "I don't know. I honestly don't know. He wants me to but…"

"But?"

"I don't think I could do that to him. I'm grateful to Nathan for everything he's done for me and everything but… This isn't a fate I'd have chosen if there was a choice involved."

"But he wants it though." He clarified.

"Exactly. He says that he couldn't bear to have to grow up and away from us. He doesn't want to slow us down anymore and stuff like that…" She sighed again. "So you see my dilemma. I don't know what we're going to do."

"Don't worry. You'll make the right choice. I can tell." He smiled at her and she found herself smiling back. She felt so comfortable and natural next to this boy.

"Thanks."

"So," He asked, seemingly as eager as she was to continue the conversation. "You have a funny accent. Are you from Europe or something?"

"Yeah English, born and bred." She grinned and winked. There was something about this boy that brought out the more confident her from inside. "I used to live in the South."

"English," He mused. "I thought you sounded posh." He grinned back cheekily. She feigned a gasp. "Kidding."

"Well," She allowed. "I guess I did live in the posh area…at first…"

"At first?"

"Yeah, we lived on farm in the countryside it was great."

"What happened?"

"There was a fire. It destroyed everything. My parents didn't believe in insurance so we were left with nothing."

"Where did you go?"

"My dad got a job in the city and we moved to a tiny house in a near-by suburb. We all had to share one bedroom – my parents, my two older brothers and me. It was a really rough area, but there was nowhere else we could go… My dad began to drink and almost all his earnings wet to the local pub, so we sank further and further into debt."

"My dad used to drink," Said the boy, sadly. "That's why we left him. Well, that's what my mom says anyway. I was too young to remember." Jaq felt a strange urge to protect him, it was a ridiculous feeling – he was almost twice her height and had several times the amount of muscle. What a totally _irrational_ thought. She shook her head and went on with her story.

"My oldest brother Richard, married a woman named Gemma, they bought a house of their own and had Connor. Only about two years later he came down for a visit and asked my other brother, Sean and I to move in with them. We said yes gladly - our dad was slowly getting worse by the day. He tried to convince my mum too but she refused to leave him, so we left her to go live with Rich and Gem.

"It was a struggle, both Richard and Gemma in full time jobs, but we managed. As soon as he was old enough Sean got a job and contributed. A few years later I followed suit. It was difficult, but we were happy."

"So what happened then?" The boy asked. "What happened to make you like this?"

Jaq looked away from his gaze. "It was a cold night," She said quietly. "I had just finished visiting my mum. Again, I had tried to persuade her to come back with me but she was persistent as ever. She wouldn't come.

"I was waiting at the end of the road for Sean to pick me up. I was nineteen at this point but didn't have enough money for a car or even a license.

"The memory is a fuzzy human one so I don't remember exactly what happened. All I know is that I was attacked by one of the gangs in the area. I can't remember why. I only remember how much it hurt. I vividly remember the cold jolt of fear that ran through me as one of them pulled out the knife."

Jaq shuddered at the memory. She looked up to the boy who was watching her with a tortured expression.

"What happened?" He whispered. "Did they-?" He broke off clearly not liking the images in his mind.

"They left me for dead on the side of the road. I could feel myself dying but all I could think about was my brother. I didn't want him to find me like this..." She trailed off and looked down to the dancing crowd. "It was then that Nathan found me." She smiled. "In a way, he saved my life.

"For obvious reasons I couldn't go back to my family, but I watched from a distance. We stayed nearby but out of sight – just checking that they were alright.

"But one day we noticed someone else watching them too."

"Delano." The boy narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah," Jaq nodded, the smile completely gone from her face. "We confronted him, wanting to know what his problem was. He was watching Connor. He said he had felt some supernatural power in him and wanted to have him in his coven but he was too young to train as a vampire so he was waiting for him to get older. He wanted me in it too after sensing my abilities but I said no. We asked him to take his coven and leave my family alone."

"And he didn't like that?" The boy guessed.

"No he didn't." Jaq looked away again. "He burned down my brother's house and tried to kill me and Nathan. Luckily we survived, but Richard Sean and Gemma didn't. We took Connor and ran... and they've been following us ever since."

"So, he wanted Connor?" He asked.

"Yeah," Jaq frowned. "He must've sensed something pretty spectacular in him to want him that bad."

"Well," the boy smiled. "At least you have all of us on your side now."

"Yeah," She smiled. "Though I'm not sure why you're all risking your lives for us. We're not really that worth it."

He looked over into the crowd to where Jacob was beckoning him over.

"You are." He smiled again, turning back to her. "You are defiantly worth it."

"Thanks," Jaq frowned. "Sorry, I don't know your name." She admitted sheepishly.

"It's Embry, Embry Call."

She smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Jaq. It's nice to meet you."

He smiled back, took her hand and kissed it with his warm lips. "My pleasure, ma'am."

"Well aren't you polite."

He smiled again and pretended to tip an invisible hat before walking down the stairs to Jacob.


	10. Escape

"Jaq," Alice whined. "Please come shopping with us. _Please_."

"You have Rosalie. You don't need me."

"But I'm _bored_ of shopping for Rose. I need someone else to work with."

"I feel used."

"_Yes_!"

"What? I didn't say yes yet."

"But you're going to." Alice sang.

"I don't think this is very fair."

"You'll thank me one day."

"No, I really don't think I will."

Alice just grinned. "Rose." She called. "We're leaving now. Jaq's just said yes."

"I haven't said yes."

Immediately Rosalie was in the room. "Can we go in my car?"

"No way." Alice shook her head. "I want to go in the porche."

"But I never get to use mine."

"Neither do I," Alice grimaced. "Anyway. My car's yellow. Therefore it is better."

Rosalie glared at her. "Fine, Jaq decides."

"Ermm... cars aren't really my thing..."

"Just pick a colour. Red or yellow?"

"Red." Jaq said without thinking. Then realised it was the colour of the shimmer in Embry's aura. She was glad she couldn't blush and give herself away.

Alice narrowed her eyes at her. "I'm going to make this shopping trip as painful as possible for you now, Jaq."

"Sorry..."

"Too late."

They dragged Jaq out of the front door and to the garage. They passed the wolves on patrol. She gave them a desperate pleading look as they past and Jacob chuckled.

When they entered the garage Alice threw a wistful look at her porche and shoved Jaq into the back seat. Rosalie jumped into the driver's seat and Alice glared at her.

"No way," She said. "I want to drive."

"My car." Rosalie smiled angelically.

"Hey, I lost out on using my car," Alice argued. "I should be able to drive at least."

"_My car_." Rosalie replied, more forcefully this time.

"Err," Jaq said hesitantly, trying to avoid an argument. "Aren't we going shopping?"

Alice snapped up at her words. "Fine," She said walking around to the passenger seat. "But I want to drive back."

"Okay," Rosalie sighed rolling her eyes. "But I get shotgun."

"Deal."

Jaq made a face. _All this over shopping_. She thought as Rosalie back the car out of the garage way too fast.

-~*~-

"Alice I don't think..."

"But Jaq, this one looks _lovely_ on you."

Jaq looked down dubiously at the silk dress top she had been forced into. It was so far from her taste that it was ridiculous.

"I'm not really sure it's something I would wear." She said hesitantly.

Alice gave a huge theatrical sigh and Rosalie laughed.

"Jaq," She said smiling. "That's what you said about every item of clothing we've picked up for you so far."

Jaq didn't reply.

"Oh hang on I know!" Alice exclaimed. "There's that shop at the end of the street. We haven't been in there yet."

"Is that the one where we got those amazing boots from?"

"Yep."

"Great let's go." They both seized Jaq by the arms and dragged her out of the shop without giving her a chance of opinion.

They left her by the shoe section and ran off in different directions to find clothes. Jaq rolled her eyes and looked out the shop window. She watched the people walk past going about their various businesses.

She saw a guy of about twenty walk by. He had very extravagant hairstyle. She watched him walking, admiring it as he walked into the music store.

Her senses switched on. _Music store_.

Without thinking, she rushed out of the doors, across the street and into the music store. Looking around she breathed a sigh of relief. _This_ was what she called shopping.

She walked over to the Rock Section and began looking through the CDs. Maybe they'd have that new album...

"Jaq?" Came a shocked voice from behind her. She spun around recognising it.

"_Embry_?" She asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking at CDs." He grinned gesturing towards the displays. "What about you?"

"Escaping from Alice and Rosalie's shopping trip." Jaq said making a face.

"Ah." Embry laughed. "So what you looking at?" He took the album she was holding out of her hand. "Enter Shikari." He smiled. "Good choice."

"Shouldn't you be on patrol?" She asked him, smiling and taking the album back.

"Nope." He grinned. "I'm free today. I'm patrolling tomorrow."

"Cool." Jaq glanced over to the clothes store she had just escaped from. Why weren't they coming to get her back? Surely Alice would've seen her leave. "Wanna go get a bite to eat?" She asked.

Embry raised his eyebrows with a smile.

"I meant for you obviously."

"Sure," He laughed. "Let me just go get this." He held up the CD he'd been carrying.

They walked up to the desk together.

"That's $20.99," The shop assistant said. "Would you like a bag?"

After Embry had accepted the bag and insisted he wasn't hungry, they walked together out of the music store to the park.

They sat down on an empty bench near the stream.

"So where's Connor?" He asked.

"With Nessie I expect." Jaq made a face. "He was spared from the horrible torture known as clothes shopping."

"Surely it can't be that bad." Embry laughed.

"It is if Alice is involved." She said darkly. "She's _insane_."

Embry laughed again and his aura flashed brighter. Jaq watched to strange colours for a moment then look back to his face.

"What's it like being a werewolf?" She asked him. "Is there other stuff you can do like us or...?"

"Shape shifter." He corrected with a smile.

"Whatever."

"Well as far as I'm aware there's none of our kind that have supernatural powers like you guys." He said, sitting back on the bench. "But there is some stuff we can do."

"Like what?"

"Well for instance we heal almost immediately."

"You're kidding."

"Nope," He grinned. "Want to see?"

"Sure."

He dug around in his jeans pockets and brought out a penknife.

"It won't hurt you will it?" Jaq asked quickly.

"Nah," He said still grinning. "It'll be barely a scratch, I promise."

"Okay then."

He flicked the knife out and made a small slit in his left palm. Jaq leaned forward and watched as the cut fixed itself before her eyes. It only took a few seconds.

"_Woah_." She murmured.

"Cool eh?"

"_Awesome_."

He laughed at her amazed expression.

"What else can you do?" She asked eagerly.

"Well our bodies run at a much higher temperature than humans." He held out his hand in invitation and she took it feeling the heat that she had vaguely noticed at Nessie's party. "It comes in handy when we're out in the cold."

"How warm?" Jaq asked.

"About 108, 109 degrees."

"_Cool_."

"Also when we're in wolf form we can run pretty fast." He continued. "Fast enough to catch up with one of your lot." He grinned.

"I very much doubt you could beat me."

"Oh _really_?" He asked, his eyes sparkling playfully.

"Yeah." She smiled tilting her head back.

"I guess we'll have to try it out sometime."

"Sounds like a plan." She grinned. "So what else can you do?"

"Well, this may sound freaky but while we're in wolf form we can hear each other's thoughts."

"Freaky." Jaq smiled.

"Annoying too." Embry frowned. "There's no privacy."

"Sounds like being around Edward." She laughed. "It still freaks me out when he answers my thoughts."

"Imagine that with four other people."

Jaq shuddered and laughed. "I can see where you're coming from."

"But hey you get used to it." Embry looked at the watch on his wrist. "Oh crap."

"What is it?"

"I need to get back home." He sighed. "I promised my mom I'd help her with the kitchen. We're repainting it."

"Cool." Jaq said. "What colour?"

"Don't know yet." He said standing up. He looked down to her. "Sorry, I shouldn't leave you like this."

"Nah it's okay." She smiled. "I'll go find my shopping partners." She shuddered.

"Sorry." He laughed.

"Hey, I'll just stick with Rosalie. She seems saner."

"_Sure_."

"Oh that's probably them now." Jaq dug in her pocket and pulled out her ringing phone. "Hello?"

"Jaq," Came Rosalie's voice. "We're just about to go back to the car. Do you want to meet us there?"

"Sure, Rosalie." Jaq smiled. "Doesn't that mean the shopping's over?"

"Yes." Rosalie laughed. "We bought some stuff for you so don't worry."

There was a sound of Alice grabbing the phone and suddenly her voice was on the line.

"We got you some _gorgeous_ clothes."

"Great Alice." Jaq said unenthusiastically. "I'll see you at the car okay?"

"Okay bye!"

Jaq hung up and put the phone back in her pocket.

"Looks like you got out of that one." Embry grinned.

"You can't understand how happy I am." Jaq laughed. "I was dreading going back."

"Well that's lucky." He looked at his watch again. "Okay well I've got to go. I'll probably see you some time tomorrow."

"Cool," She smiled. "You'll have to come in for dinner. I'm cooking." She winked.

"You can cook?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well I'll make sure I'm there for that." He grinned. "Right, well I've got to go so..." He pulled her into a warm hug. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said as he released her.

"Bye." Jaq waved as the heat was replaced by the cold air.

Embry waved back and walked down the street. She turned down the other street and began to walk back to the car park.

"Hey Jaq." Alice grinned as she reached the car. "Where'd you go?" She asked as if she didn't know.

"I...ermm... ran into someone."

"Oh." Alice smiled knowingly as Rosalie wrinkled her nose as if she smelt something bad.

Jaq jumped into the back of the car and Alice started up the engine.


	11. Veggies

"Hey Jaq," Nathan said as he sauntered into the kitchen. "What cha cookin'?"

"It's a surprise." She smiled. "Are they here yet?"

"Not yet." He leaned in and smelt the saucepan on the stove. "Ahh, I remember you making this one. Conner will be pleased."

"Good." She smiled again and handed him the wooden spoon. "Mix," She commanded. "And _don't_ let it burn whatever you do."

Jaq left him stirring and began to set the table. She closed her eyes and sniffed the air. Following the scent she opened the drawer and pulled out a packet of ornately decorated napkins.

"I knew they'd have some of these somewhere."

"You're really going full on with this aren't you?" Nathan laughed as she began to fold the napkins into the glasses.

"I want them to get the full experience of _ma cuisine_." She grinned.

"They'll be here in a few minutes." Alice said as she skipped through the door. "My sight just went so they've probably just left."

"Is Leah coming?"

"No," Alice shook her head. "They still haven't been able to convince her."

"Okay," Jaq pouted and she cleared one of the places at the table. "More for the others I guess."

"Can I stop stirring this yet Jaq?"

"No keep stirring."

"But it's _boring_."

Jaq ignored him and turned back to Alice.

"Any more news on Delano?" She asked, afraid of the answer.

"No more than before. The girl - Prudence - she's still changing her mind regularly. I don't know what to make of it."

Jaq frowned but before she could say anything four overly large Indian boys burst into the kitchen.

"_Damn_ that smells good." Jacob grinned.

"If you go get Conner and Nessie you can have some."

"Already gone."

The other came and sat down at the table.

"Hey Jaq." Embry smiled and the venom in her body sped up. _What the hell is this?_

"Smells great Jaq." Seth grinned.

"Uh, thanks Seth." She said distractedly.

"Jaq..." Nathan moaned from the stove.

"Yes Nathan." She sighed. "You can stop stirring."

"Yes!"

"So," She said turning to the boys at the table. "I hope you boys are hungry, I've made so much food and Connor and Ness are just too small to eat it all themselves."

"Hungry?" Quil exclaimed. "I'm _starving_!"

"We've just had patrol," Embry explained. "We've all been running double shifts since the whole Delano thing started up."

Jaq frowned. Double shifts? She didn't like the sound of that. They shouldn't have to do that. Thinking about it, all the boys looked exhausted, Jacob included. She'd be having words with him later.

Embry noticed her scrutiny and smiled.

"It's okay, it's all voluntary, Jaq."

"But it's not fair on you." She argued. He looked the most tired and that upset her even more. "Look at yourselves - you all look exhausted."

"We don't mind." Seth smiled.

"Yeah, this is what we like doing." Quil grinned.

"But you need to sleep."

"We are sleeping Jaq," Embry laughed. "I promise you. You don't need to worry."

"Obviously not enough. You should let the people who don't need to sleep like me and Nathan to-" She turned back to an empty space. "Where'd he go?"

"He left as soon as you told him he could stop stirring."

"Guess he still doesn't trust you guys, huh?"

"Apparently not."

"Okay," Jacob grinned from the doorway. "Are you guys ready to eat or not?" He entered the room with Connor on one shoulder and Renesmee on the other - both shrieking with delight. He set them down on their chairs and sat at his own, picking up his knife and fork and holding them upright ready to eat.

"Hungry are you?" Jaq laughed as she served to lentil soup into each of their bowls. "Homemade you know." She winked.

"Mmmm..." Connor grinned, tucking in before the bowl had hit the table.

Jaq chuckled and put the saucepan in the sink. She watched as the boys wolfed the soup down while Nessie sipped it nicely. She frowned as she noticed again the dark circles beneath each of the werewolves' eyes. She was definatly going to have a word with them about that.

They finished up the soup in just a few minutes. Jaq cleared the bowls and left them in the sink to be washed later. She opened the oven door and took out five huge casserole dishes.

"Wow someone's been busy."

"Well the rate you lot eat..."

"What's this?" Seth asked eyeing the casserole dishes.

"Ratatouille." Jaq grinned and Connor cheered.

"I love this stuff!"

"That's why I made it." Jaq laughed.

Jacob sifted through the food on his plate with a fork. "Where's the _meat_?"

"It's a vegetarian dish."

"_Vegetarian_?"

Jaq nodded and pointed to herself. "I used to be one."

"_Really_?... Well, that's an odd concept..."

"How can you not have liked meat?" Quil said partway through a mouthful of food. "Meat's the best."

"Do you not realise how some of those animals are treated?" Jaq frowned. "It's cruel!"

"Well this is the weirdest conversation _I've_ ever had with a vampire..." Jacob muttered to Embry. Embry laughed in agreement and they all began to clear their plates.

"Mmm that was good." Renesmee smiled.

"I've got something _way_ more exciting coming." Jaq grinned as she took the plates off the table. She went to the freezer and pulled out a big plastic container.

"Icecream?" Nessie guessed.

"Almost."

"_Almost_ icecream?"

Jaq smiled but didn't answer. She opened the container, took out an elegant cake and placed it on the table with a knife.

They all leaned in to inspect it.

"What _is_ it?"

"Lemon meringue icecream cake." She said as she handed out plates and spoons.

"_Wicked_."

They devoured the cake in just a few seconds leaving only a few crumbs on the plate. It was like watching the discovery channel or something.

"Sheesh, you guys are like _animals_." Alice grinned as she skipped into the kitchen.

Jaq laughed. "I know right? I was just thinking that."

"Jacob, your dad just called." Alice said. "He says he needs to speak to you."

"Oh." Jacob got up looking confused. "Ok, guess I'll see you guys later."

There was a short silence when Seth stood up. "Ermm... Quil, Connor, Ness... we've got to do that... thing you know..."

"Huh?"

"That _thing_... you know..."

"Oh yeah."

They hurried out of the kitchen, with a giggle from Renesmee, leaving Jaq and Embry alone.

"Well that was weird." Jaq said as she turned to the sink.

"Yeah," Embry laughed. "I have weird friends. Want a hand with that?" He gestured to the pile of washing up. "I'll dry."

"If you're sure." He picked up a tea towel and began drying the few bits she had already washed. "So, how was patrol?"

"Neh, it was okay." He shrugged. "Couldn't wait to get back her to see you though."

Jaq's stomach gave an irrational flutter. _Get a hold of yourself Jaq. You don't even know him that well. You've known him all of two weeks..._

"Didn't find anything then?" She said in as normal a voice as she could muster.

"Nah, Alice said we've still got a few weeks anyway. This is just a precaution."

They were silent for a moment, just the sound of the china clinking against the sink. Jaq wondered to herself why she always felt so comfortable with Embry. She barely even knew him for goodness sake.

What was it about him that made her feel like this? It was like they were connected on a spiritual level or something... but that was impossible, right? Urgh... She'd be able to tell if she could see her own aura. What stupid idiot allowed her to see other's auras but not her own? it was just plain annoying...

"What are you thinking about?" Embry asked breaking her thoughts.

"Oh err..." Jaq scrambled, caught off guard. "I was thinking about you actually..." She said truthfully.

"Me?" He asked confused.

"Yeah I was err... just wondering.... about your life." She stuttered, bottling out of what she was going to say.

"My life?"

"Yeah, you know my life story. What about yours?"

"Mine isn't so interesting but I suppose... if you're interested..."

"Where did you grow up? Have you lived here your whole life, or ...?"

"No I was born on the Makah reservation. I moved here with my mom when I was three."

"What about your dad?"

Embry shrugged. "She says she left him back in the Makah rez."

"You say that like you're not sure." Jaq frowned.

"Well," He suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I'd always believed her... but when I turned into this, well, let's just say the story didn't fit."

"What do you mean?" She was so confused. Why was he so uneasy? "Why doesn't it fit?"

"Well.... to be a werewolf you have to be related father-to-son with one of the older pack members or related to a Quileute."

"Right..."

"The last pack was Ephraim Black, Jacob's great-granddad; Levi Uley, Sam's great-granddad and Awan Ateara, Quil's great-granddad. My mum's Makah by birth so that means my dad..." Embry swallowed. "...has to be Jake's dad, Sam's dad or Quil's dad."

"Oh."

"They're all married."

"Wow." Jaq raised her eyebrows. "So you don't know who he is?"

"Nope, and of course my mom's answer's always the same."

"What about Ben's dad?" Jaq asked. "Is he...? Will Ben...?"

"Chris was Quileute so it's possible it could happen, I guess..."

"Was?"

"He died just after Ben was born, cancer. It's a shame - he was a really nice bloke."

"Oh. Your poor mum, having to look after you two alone."

"Yeah, I guess I don't exactly make it easier for her...." He looked away almost ashamed.

"What do you mean?" Jaq frowned. "You don't seem like the troublemaking type."

"It's the whole shape shifter thing." He explained. "I'm not allowed to tell her about it. So she always gets mad when I sneak out at night for patrol. And I've been skipping college so I can catch up on sleep. But I've started failing..." He trailed off looking to the floor. She could tell that this problem was really upsetting him.

"Embry..." Jaq quickly dried her hands and gave him a hug. She barely came up to his shoulders - he was so huge. "Hey, it's okay." She rubbed as far up his back as she could reach. Sometimes it sucked being small.

She heard him sniff and he pulled her closer. They stood there quietly for a moment. At some point it registered to Jaq that she was hugging a guy she barely knew, but that thought was quickly lost. Embry was in pain, and for whatever the reason, his pain was her pain.


	12. Pebbles

Jaq smiled to herself as Connor fell asleep.

Something hit the window. She turned curiously towards it and heard a heart beat coming from outside. She opened the window and was hit by a familiar musky woodsy scent.

"Embry," She whispered smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"I just got off patrol and I wanted to say hi." He smiled. "Coming down?"

"Sure, just one second."

She took one last look back to where Connor was sleeping and climbed out onto the window ledge. She quietly closed the window and jumped silently to the grass below.

"Hey." She smiled. "You realise that you could've just called my name. I would've heard you."

"Yeah but that would be boring. Besides I've always wanted to throw pebbles at someone's window."

Jaq laughed and they began to walk away from the house. "So how was patrol?"

"So-so." Embry shrugged. "There wasn't anything out there so Jake sent us back early."

"Well that's a nice feeling."

"Yeah, it's always nice to know that there isn't anyone who wants to kill us hanging around."

They stopped at a tree in the middle of the forest. Jaq looked up and grinned.

"Bet I can climb it before you."

"You're on." He grinned back playfully.

"Ready, set, go..."

They both ran towards and up the tree in a flash. Jaq sat on one of the higher braches laughing.

"I think I won that one."

"I could beat you if I was in my wolf form." Embry said as he sat down next to her.

"I think someone's a sore loser."

"So what if I am." He smiled as she leant her head against him. He put her arm around her shoulder. "Connor won't notice you're gone will he?"

"Nah," She said snuggling into his chest. Despite only having known Embry for a few weeks she felt totally comfortable next to him. She felt like she'd know him years.

"He's sleeping better then?"

"Yeah, hasn't had a nightmare for weeks." She smiled. "I think its Nessie and Jacob mostly. They seem to have had some really positive effect of him."

Embry moved his arm down to her waist and twisted her around to face him.

"What about you?" He asked hesitantly looking into her eyes. "Is staying here looking like a healthy option for you?"

Jaq stopped breathing. They were so close. There was so little space between their faces that she could feel his hot breath on her. Slowly, without thinking about it she leaned in head and kissed him on the lips. His eyes widened in shock.

She sat back suddenly. "Oh. Sorry...."

"Jaq..."

"Sorry. I-err-don't know what came over me."

"Jaq, I need to talk to you." Embry said seriously. "I need to tell you something."

Jaq narrowed her eyes curiously, still embarrassed. "Go on..."

"I-has anyone told you about _imprinting_?" He asked cautiously.

"No..."

"Its... something that sometimes happens to us wolves..." He seemed to be having difficulty in working out how to phrase this. "Sometimes when we meet someone for the first time... it can happen... it's how we meet our soul mates. It's happened to loads of us already..."

"Soul mates? So what? It's like love at first sight or something?"

"Well yeah, that's the closest example but it's not totally accurate." He hesitated. "It's more like finding the centre of your own universe, the only reason for your being."

"Oh." Jaq frowned confused. _Why was he telling her this?_

Then she got it.

"Oh." _Oh_. "And you ... imprinted on ... _me_..." Well that explained a lot.

He nodded slowly, biting his lip.

"Ah." So that was what all the whispers were about. Why the others all smiled when she said she'd been talking to Embry. Why she felt so comfortable with him...

His eyes were cautious, watching her reaction.

"Okay." She said with a small smile.

"You're okay with it?" He asked shocked.

"I kinda suspected something was going on." She shrugged. "I just didn't know what."

"You don't mind?" He clarified.

She shook her head. "No, I'm just happy that I know why I feel so comfortable with you."

He smiled in relief.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" She asked. "You've kept it quiet for weeks."

"I wanted to give you a chance to get to know me. So you knew what you were getting yourself into." He grinned. "So you knew I wasn't just some random psycho hitting on you."

Jaq laughed and leaned back against him.

"So who else has it happened to? She asked as he replaced his arm. "You mentioned it had happened to the others."

"Well Jacob imprinted on Ness."

"But she's just a kid!"

"Like I said, it's not quite love at first sight." Embry explained. "It's not like _that_ - at least, not until she gets a lot older."

"I think I understand." Jaq nodded. "So at this point he's more of an over-protective older brother slash best friend?"

"Exactly," He nodded. "He's whatever she needs him to be – a friend, a brother, an uncle, a lover.... The same thing happened to Quil. He imprinted on Claire when she was two. It's the same situation."

"Who else imprinted? Did Seth or Leah-?"

"No not Seth or... Leah..." He said her name with a kind of pity in his voice.

"What happened to Leah?" Jaq asked noticing.

"Well..." Embry bit his lip. "I'm not sure I should tell you. She won't be happy with me..."

"Don't worry." She said hastily. She didn't want to get him into trouble. "I was just curious. If you're not allowed..."

"No it's okay. I'll tell you." He frowned. "Just don't mention it to anyone."

"I won't." She promised.

"Well before Sam turned wolf he and Leah were high school sweethearts." He turned to look at her. "Sam as in ...-"

"...Alpha of the other pack." Jaq nodded. "But I thought you said he was getting married to someone else?" She frowned.

"Leah's cousin, Emily. He imprinted on her one time when she came down to visit."

"Oh no..." Jaq gasped. "So he left her for Emily?"

Embry nodded. "He had no choice. It was like everything he felt about Leah didn't matter anymore." He grimaced. "It really hurt Leah. She used to be really close to Emily but she barely speaks to her anymore. Sam feels awful every time he sees her aswell. The guilt kills him because he can see her hurting but knows there's nothing he can do."

"That's why she joined Jacob's pack." Jaq guessed. "So she wouldn't have to hear the guilt in his thoughts?"

"Mostly."

"But what about Emily?" Jaq asked. "She can't have been happy with it?"

"She wasn't. She was really mad at him. That's why he ended up hurting her. But they worked it out in the end. They're happy together now – engaged and everything."

"Poor Leah." Jaq frowned. "I hope she finds someone."

"Yeah," Embry agreed. "She's a pain in the neck but no one deserves that..."

"So, have any of the others imprinted?"

"Yeah, Jared and Paul from Sam's pack,"

"They were both single though right?"

"Yeah, no drama in either of those cases," Embry smiled. "Jared imprinted on a girl he'd sat next to for years in school and never noticed."

"And Paul?"

"He imprinted on Jacob's older sister, Rachel." Embry laughed. "Jake wasn't too happy about that."

Jaq laughed too. "I can imagine."

"To be honest I don't blame him. I wouldn't be to ha-" Embry yawned cutting himself off. "Happy either." He finished sleepily.

Jaq looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

"You're shattered."

"I'm fine."

"Liar." She smiled, watching his eyes droop. She looked at her watch – they'd been talking for hours. "Come on. I'll take you home." She said jumping out of the tree.

He rolled his eyes and jumped down next to her. "Fine."


	13. Sleepover

They walked together – his arm around her shoulders – through the woods to his house. His mum and brother were both asleep so they snuck in quietly through the window.

His room was of average size and covered with posters. There was a big, unmade double bed opposite the door. Above it was a huge poster of a band Jaq recognised.

"Relient K," She smiled. "I love them."

"They're my favourite band."

She smiled and began to sing quietly under her breath. "I watched the proverbial sunrise, coming up over the pacific and...."

"You have a good voice." Embry noted.

"I'm a vampire, my voice is supposed to be appealing." Jaq grimaced. "It's part of the bait."

"No it's more than that."

Jaq made a face but didn't argue. She looked around the room and noticed an acoustic guitar leaning against the wall.

"You play guitar?"

"Yeah."

"Can you show me?"

"Well I...." He was hesitant.

"Please?" She smiled sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Well okay then..." He picked up the guitar and sat on the chair opposite. He picked up a guitar pick from the table next to him and began to play quietly.

Jaq smiled. "That's the introduction to _Love Story_."

"Yeah I looked it up after you mentioned it to me. You're right, it's a nice song." He stopped playing and looked at her, blushing. "I...errr... have actually written something else."

"Show me." She grinned.

"I warn you though. I'm not much of a singer. Not like you..."

"I don't mind."

He blushed again and began to play. It was a slow rhythm, very different to the country music he had just been playing. He played a short introduction and began to sing.

_Who is she?_

_That girl,_

_That beautiful girl_

_Alone on the balcony._

_What did she do,_

_Do to make me feel like this?_

_I think I finally found_

_What it is I'm looking for_

_Something real_

_I never thought I'd feel this way_

_I laughed at the others,_

_Said it'd never happen to me_

_They laughed and joked_

_Said it would_

_But I never believed_

_Guess now I do._

He was right; he wasn't much of a singer. But the melody and the lyrics were so beautiful that Jaq wanted to cry – not that she could of course but it was so amazing that she wanted to.

_Who is she?_

_That girl,_

_That beautiful girl_

_Alone on the balcony._

_What did she do,_

_Do to make me feel like this?_

_I take a step through the crowd_

_I have to speak to her_

_But what if she won't take me?_

_Okay that's fine_

_But just know that even over time_

_I'll never, never stop loving you_

_I'll never, never stop waking up for you_

_I'll never, never stop breathing for you_

_Who is she?_

"And err... that's all I've got at the moment..." He blushed again.

"Embry that was beautiful."

"It was just something I made up in five minutes..." He shrugged. "You inspired it. Obviously."

Jaq crossed the room in one swift motion and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you." She murmured.

She sat back down on the bed and looked at him. He still had the same expression on his face as he had the first day. Again she saw the dark circles under his eyes.

"Anyway," Jaq frowned. "I'm pretty sure you should be sleeping right now."

"Jaq..."

"Don't Jaq me. Take those shoes off and get in that bed."

"Yes _mom_." He said rolling his eyes jokingly as he kicked his shoes off and lay on the bed next to her. Just as she was about to stand up he grabbed her hand and looked at her seriously. "Stay with me." He whispered.

Jaq hesitated. The others would be wondering where she was. She had left Connor sleeping. He should be okay though. He wasn't having nightmares at the moment. And the others... well they would understand the second she mentioned Embry's name...

"Will you sleep if I stay?" He nodded and she sighed. "Okay..." She slid along the bed until she was sat next to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and put his head on her stomach.

"Goodnight." She murmured stoking his dark hair.

"'Night." He mumbled closing his eyes.

Barely a moment past before the exhaustion overtook him and he fell asleep. Jaq listened to the rhythmic snores for a few moments then carefully pulled her phone out of her pocket. She flipped it open and typed out a text.

To: Nathan

From: Jaq

At: 03:31am

Staying Embry's 2nite. Dnt call me. :p

X Jaq

After what could only have been thirty seconds she got a reply:

To: Jaq

From: Nathan

At: 03:31am

Make sure you're safe. Are you sure that's such a great idea?

- Nathan

Jaq frowned at the screen.

To: Nathan

From: Jaq

At: 03:32am

Dnt b so stupid. Embry's not gnna do anything. The most dangerous thing here is me .

X Jaq

To: Jaq

From: Nathan

At: 03:33am

Jaq, I'm just worried about you. Don't be mad at me. I don't trust these werewolves. I'm concerned that you can't get a clear reading on them.

- Nathan

To: Nathan

From: Jaq

At: 03:33am

I appreciate ur concern but trust me he's fine. Asleep in fact. Get off my bak

X Jaq

To: Jaq

From: Nathan

At: 03:33am

Jaq, please, cut me some slack here.

- Nathan

To: Nathan

From: Jaq

At: 03:34am

Nath quit it im not in the mood. Get rid of ur predgudices nd then ill tlk 2 u

Jaq.

To: Jaq

From: Nathan

At: 03:36am

Sorry. X Nathan


	14. Sugarpuffs

Jaq watched Embry stir and opened his eyes.

"Finally," She grinned. "Sheesh you humans sleep so _much_."

"Jaq," He smiled sleepily. "You're still here."

She shrugged. "I said I would be." She tilted her head to one side. "How are you?"

"Bit stiff," He said stretching. "But for a rock you're surprisingly comfortable."

Jaq laughed. "Thanks so much."

"What time is it?"

"Midday."

"_Midday_?"

"Your mum came in at about eight." She grinned. "I hid under your bed. I hope you don't mind."

He laughed. "What did she look like?"

"She looked pretty annoyed but she let you sleep."

"Damn." Embry grimaced. "Means I skipped school again. She's not going to be happy when she gets back."

"She'll forgive you." Jaq said stroking his hair. They were quiet for a moment then Embry frowned.

"Didn't you get bored just watching me sleep?"

"Nah," She shrugged. "I do it with Connor all the time. It's fun. People make such funny faces when they sleep. I was looking at your posters aswell."

"Any that you liked?"

"Several actually," She smiled. "You have a very good taste in music."

He grinned. "Of course I do."

She rolled her eyes. "So, aren't you going to have some breakfast?"

"Gee I dunno," he said stretching out on the bed. "That means getting up."

"Sheesh, laaazy."

He laughed. "Okay, I'll get up. I guess. But just for you." He dragged himself off the bed and took her hand. Together they walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Embry let go of her hand and she sat on one of the stools. He went into the cupboard and got out a box of cereals.

Jaq laughed. "Wow, Sugarpuffs. So much sugar and fat with added calories."

Embry stuck out his tongue. "I burn it all off."

"Uhu." Jaq laughed again.

"Hey, I work out you know." He flexed his impressive arm muscles. "See, look at that."

"Well they are something." She grinned appreciatively. "But you know I was under the impression that the muscles are from the whole werewolf thing."

"I only said that so you'd feel better about being so small." He winked.

"Oh... so _that's_ how it is." She laughed. "Well I know this diddy body could _easily_ kick your butt any day."

He laughed. "I doubt _that_."

"Come on then." She challenged grinning. "Let's see how well you fare."

He shook his head smiling. "Couldn't. I might hurt you."

Jaq snorted.

"Plus you're a girl. I don't think I'd be able to do that."

She made a face. "Nice excuse."

He stuck his tongue again and continued to prepare his cereal. Jaq wondered around the kitchen looking at the pictures pinned to the fridge.

She heard him before he even touched her. In less than a second he crossed the kitchen and rugby tackled her to the floor.

"Well that was mature." She laughed.

"I told you I could beat you."

"Ah, but I let you have that one."

He snorted. "_Sure_ you did."

"Believe what you want." She smiled. "Now, stop mucking around and have your breakfast."

He rolled his eyes and got up, held out his hand and pulled her up. Then he sat down on a stool and began to eat the cereal. Jaq sat on the stool next to him in silence.

"I can't .... ermm ... get you anything can I?" He asked. "I feel a bit rude."

"Sure," Jaq laughed. "If you have Bambi locked up in your garden shed."

"Sorry," Embry grinned. "Fresh out, we had him for lunch yesterday."

"In that case I think I'll be okay."

He laughed and finished off his cereals. He put the bowl in the dishwasher and turned back to Jaq.

"You probably want to check on Connor." He guessed.

Jaq paused. Sure, she wanted to check on Connor, but she also wanted to stay here with Embry...

"Yeah..." She smiled. "But only if you come with me."

"Hey, I'm skipping school." He grinned. "What else am I going to do? I don't have a life outside you anymore remember."

Jaq laughed and took his hand. "Come on then..."


	15. Imply

"Oh, look who's back."

"Hey Rose," Jaq grinned as her and Embry walked through the front door.

"Connor's looking for you, you know."

"Where is he?"

"In the kitchen with the others."

"Cool." Without Rosalie even acknowledging Embry - she didn't trust the werewolves much more than Nathan - the three of them walked to the kitchen.

"Jaq!" Connor shrieked and ran to give her a hug.

"Hey," She laughed. "I was away for _one night_ kid." He ignored her and continued to hug. "Where're the others?"

"Nathan, Bella, Edward and Emmett went out hunting, Carlisle and Esme are out furniture shopping and Seth, Jacob and Quil are all at La Push with Nessie." Rosalie explained. "They'll be back soon."

"Actually now would be more accurate." Alice grinned. As she said that, there was the sound of the front door opening and a few seconds later the four vampires burst into the kitchen.

"Hey there guys."

"Oh, _oh_..." Emmett grinned. _Uh oh._ This couldn't be good. "So I hear you stayed the night at Embry's - a _whole_ night."

"Yes Emmett, I did." His grin widened. Whatever he was thinking it couldn't be good.

"So what exactly did you guys get up to...?"

Jaq sighed. "I know what you're implying Emmett. I think you should watch what you say."

"I don't know what you mean." Emmett laughed. Jaq glared and him for a moment, making him laugh harder.

"Jaq, you should probably go hunting soon." Nathan said, not taking his eyes off Embry.

Jaq pursed her lips and ignored him. She still hadn't forgiven him for last night and judging by the glare he was giving Embry, he hadn't let go of his prejudices either.

"I'm going later with Jaz and Rose." Alice chimed. "You can come with us if you want."

"Thanks Alice, I'll do that."

Before anyone could say anything else there was another loud noise and Jacob, Seth, Quil and Renesmee burst into the room.

"Oh hey there Embs." Quil grinned. "Finally woke up did you? Slept through most of today didn't you?"

"Shut up Quil." Embry laughed.

"If, of course," Emmett grinned again. "That's _really_ what he was doing."

"Emmett, leave them alone." Bella frowned as Rosalie gave a small laugh.

"What do you mean?" Seth asked. All the werewolves looked confused.

"Jaq-with-a-q spent the night at Embry's house." Emmett announced gleefully. Jaq grimaced as everyone turned to look in their direction.

"Does that mean..." Jacob started. "Does she..?"

"Yes I know." Jaq frowned. "Someone could've told me though, instead of laughing behind my back."

"Hey," Jacob put his hands up in defence. "Embry wouldn't let us. He said he wanted to tell you himself."

Jaq turned around to Embry who shrugged.

"It's true." He said.

"Humph." Jaq turned back around.

"What is it Alice?" Bella suddenly said loudly.

Jaq looked over to Alice. Her face had blanked like it had before. Was Alice seeing something?

Almost as quickly as it had come, Alice shook her head and her expression went back to normal.

"They'll be here by Friday." She said quietly. _Friday_? But it was only Monday today. That was less than a week's time.

The room with silent with tension for a moment.

"I'll go tell Carlisle." Alice murmured as she left the room.

Jaq turned back to Embry who pulled her into a tight hug.

"Don't worry." He murmured, stroking her hair. "It'll be fine."

"So," Connor said as they broke apart. "Does this mean you're going to be my Uncle Embry?"

Jaq cringed as everyone laughed.

**Aww I love Connor, he really knows how to make an awkward situation. :) **

**OOoo... Chapter Fifteen and my first author's note! :D I'm so proud of myself.**

**Just wanted to say thanks to Shideh, Mercury-Serenity, stonecoldheart27, Crazy-Kid-Parker and IRunWithWolvesX (Sorry, it won't let me write your name properly) for the reviews, faves and subs. Il love you all, you really made my day :) Keep them coming!**

**Oh and in answer to stonecoldheart27's question (I did reply to her but I'll put it here incase anyone else was wondering): Yes, I did write Embry's song in Chapter 13. It took me like five minutes so that's why its so awful. Cringe. **

**Both Embry and Jaq are very big rock music lovers so if anyone has any suggestions I'd be happy to consider them. **

**Loves x **

**PepperX**


	16. Cringe

Ms Call was a very lovely woman how obviously enjoyed to embarrass her son. She was a small, thin woman, not much taller than Jaq, with Embry's face. She had long black straight Indian hair which she wore in a tribal decorated scarf. She had a kind face and her aura reflected that. Her aura was a bright yellow, the colour of cheerfulness, but there was a large patch of grey at the edge. Jaq could see this was a woman with a sad past.

"Mom, this is Jaq, Jaq this is my mom."

"Hello Jaq."

"Hi Ms Call." Jaq smiled shyly.

"Oh call me Meggie." She smiled back. "I must say Jaq, you're quite the looker."

_Just one of the many side effects of being a vampire... _Jaq thought.

"_Mom_..." Embry groaned.

"What? I was just being friendly."

"Just...just don't."

Meggie smiled at Jaq again and turned to Connor. "And who's this strapping young man?"

"I'm Connor." He grinned confidently. "I'm twelve."

"Are you really? Embry you never told me that. That's the same age as our Ben. He'll be back soon. You'll be able to meet him before you go to this bonfire."

"_Wicked_."

"Speaking of which Embry," Meggie turned to him and he cringed. "I don't think you should be going out to this Bonfire tonight. Not when you're already in a whole load of trouble in school for not tuning up. I think you need to cut down on these evenings and stop sneaking out at night. It's making you too tired to work."

"Mom I…"

Luckily for Embry the front door opened and a Middle school kid walked in.

"Hey mom," He greeted her as he ditched his stuff on the floor. "Hey annoying big brother." He nodded at Embry.

"Hey squirt."

"Ben," Meggie smiled. "This is Jaq, Embry's girlfriend and her son Connor."

Embry slapped his forehead with his palm, absolutely mortified.

"Oh no… he's not…" Jaq flushed. "He's my little brother."

"Oh, sorry dear."

"We live with our older brother Nathan we came to visit the Cullens. Esme is Connor's godmother you see." That was the story that they'd worked out between them.

"Oh how lovely. I do so love that family." Meggie smiled. "That Carlisle is certainly quite a dish. Such a shame he's married."

Embry cringed and Jaq suppressed a smile.

"Wanna see my new Xbox?" Ben asked Connor.

"Yeah!"

They ran out the door and up the stairs. Jaq smiled, glad that Connor was finally around someone his own age and species.

"So Jaq, are you planning on staying in the area long?"

"Well actually yes. At the moment we're looking around for a house. Carlisle's found Nathan a job at the hospital and we're staying with his family until we've got somewhere."

The time passed quickly Jaq talked with Meggie as Embry cringed in the background at everything his mother said. Finally Embry looked at his watch.

"Okay well we'd better be going." He said.

Jaq nodded. "I'll go get Connor."

As she walked up the stairs she heard the conversation in the kitchen where she'd just left.

"…very pretty girl." Meggie was saying. "Are you sure she's not related to the Cullens? They're all very beautiful like that. I can only imagine how good looking any child of hers would be."

"Mom…" Embry said quietly. "Jaq can't have kids."

"What do you mean?"

"She was… in an accident a few years ago. It damaged her really badly."

Jaq almost laughed. Well that was one way of putting it.

"Oh, that's such a shame. She seems like such a nice girl."

Jaq carried on up the stairs to get Connor. When she'd finally pried him away from the Xbox and his new best friend with a promise of another meeting, they walked back down to the kitchen.

"Well it was nice meeting you Jaq and Connor." Meggie said as they made for the front door.

"It was lovely to meet you too Ms C- … Meggie."

"Bye!" Connor waved and they left the house.

"Urgh that was so bad." Embry cringed as they walked to the car. "Why does she have to be like that with _everyone_?"

"I liked her. You're lucky to even have a mum Embry."

"I guess."

"What's that?" Connor asked as we passed the shed. I looked up to where he was pointing to. Poking out the doorway was the wheel to a bike.

"That's my dirt bike."

"You have a dirt bike?"

"_Awesome_!"

"I'll give you a lesson on it soon if you want kid."

"Yeah!"

Jaq laughed at his enthusiasm and got in the car.

**Aww don't you think Meggie's so cute ^.^ I love embarrassing parents... not when mine are though . **

**So anyway... WOOHOO my laptop has _finally_ been fixed so the story of Jaq and Embry can continue! Doesn't it feel great? I've also worked out that I can go on this website in my school :D How cool is that? **

**Big shout out to Lucy who has no idea what I'm doing but wants her name to be famous. lmao. Such a _special_ girl :)**

**Er... thanks to my newest readers/reviewers SilverGoldSun and 666Angi.**

**And lastly to stonecoldheart27.... you're gay. Accept it. Go eat bambi :P lmao **


	17. Tension

They stopped at the door. Jaq shrank back nearer to Embry nervously.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"I'm scared."

"Why are you scared?" He smiled. "They'll like you. I promise."

"Oh really?"

"What reason would they have for not liking you?"

"Embry," Jaq made a face. "I _am_ your natural enemy."

"Jaq, no one's going to care." He smiled again. "Once they've met you and seen how _amazing_ you are there won't be any problem."

"Jaq," Connor said rolling his eyes. "You worry too much."

"Easy for you to say human kid." Jaq stuck out her tongue then turned back to Embry. "But they might not like me."

"I don't see how anyone couldn't like you."

She rolled her eyes. "You can say that, sure. But they might not agree."

"Jaq," He sighed and pulled her face up to hers. She looked up into his big brown eyes. "It's going to be fine. I promise." He pulled her into a hug. "They're going to like you and you're going to like them. Honestly." He paused, gazing at her. "Do you want to go in now?" He asked.

She nodded hesitantly and he let go to press the doorbell. She gripped onto his arm nervously and he smiled at her.

"It's going to be fine." He repeated just as the door began to open.

A huge Indian man with a carefully controlled expression opened the door. Jaq looked up at his aura. It was the same as the Alpha from the other pack, so this must be…

"Hey Sam." Said Embry.

"Hi Embry," Sam answered in a cautiously measured voice. "How are you doing?"

"Not bad."

"So," Sam looked down to Jaq who was gripping onto Embry's arm even tighter than before. "You must be Jaq." He said carefully.

"H-hello."

"Now…" Sam hesitated. "This is very difficult for all of us." He said quietly. "We'll be trying as much as you so there's no reason to be afraid."

"Told you." Embry whispered in her ear.

Connor, bored with the awkward conversation, stepped forward confidently. "Hi," He grinned holding a hand out. "I'm Connor."

Sam's carefully controlled face split into a smile. He shook Connor's hand with a laugh.

"Hi there Connor, I'm Sam." He opened the door wider and gestured for them to come inside.

They followed him in, through a short corridor and into a yellow tiled kitchen. Inside were two large Indian men, judging by their auras, two of Sam's pack. There was also a woman washing up in the sink. She turned around as they entered and smiled. She was a devastatingly beautiful woman with long dark hair and a pinky-yellow aura. She had two shockingly huge pink scars down her face. Embry had warned Jaq about that so she wasn't shocked.

"Hello." She smiled hesitantly. "I'm Emily."

"Hi." Jaq smiled but still gripped onto Embry's arm.

Other than wrinkling their noses slightly, the two other werewolves didn't move. They stood still, staring at Jaq with apprehensive expressions. Sam stepped in and introduced them.

"This is Jared and Paul, two of the oldest pack members."

"Hi… I'm Jaq and this is Connor."

They barely nodded, trying so hard to keep themselves in check. Connor sighed. Jaq knew what he was thinking. He didn't understand how hard it was for them.

"Would anyone like a cake?" Emily asked and the silence was broken. Embry was first to dive in, closely followed by Jared and Paul.

Jaq almost laughed. It seemed the werewolves were the same all over. They eat like they breathe.

"Would you like one?" Emily asked Connor with a smile.

He shook his head. "I don't like cake."

Embry gave a theatrical gasp. "You. Don't. Like. Cake."

"No it's gross."

Emily laughed. "Can I interest you in a chocolate cookie then?"

"Yes please."

"How come he gets a cookie?" Sam pouted.

"Because he's cuter than you."

Paul snorted then the room fell silent again. Jared and Paul watched Jaq with a sort of unwilling distrust in their eyes, just waiting for her to slip up. Jaq just clung onto Embry as Connor started up a conversation with Emily. She looked around the room, avoiding the two werewolves' penetrating stares. It was a bright kitchen with yellow tiles and pretty little matching curtains on the window.

She watched as Emily washed up while Connor chatted happily to her. Jaq thought about how glad she was that they'd come here. It had done wonders for Connor. He'd been such a fragile wreck after what had happened. It was such a relief for her…

"Ouch!" Emily exclaimed as she cut her hand on the knife she'd been washing. Jaq quickly held her breath.

At the same moment, everyone else jumped to life. Sam, Jared and Paul jumped in front of Emily, protecting her and Embry pulled Jaq back, protecting her. Connor stayed still, watching the situation with a bemused expression.

The room was silent for a moment, each person staying in their defensive position waiting for the others to move first. Emily fumbled around for a plaster. Jaq held onto her breath, petrified that she'd break her record of never killing a human.

Suddenly through the tense atmosphere Connor began to laugh.

"You guys are so serious." He giggled. "Your _faces_!"

Everyone relaxed their positions and all too soon they were all laughing.

"So," Paul said wiping his eyes. "You're Em's new girl eh?"

**Wow! 17 chapters!!! ...**

**Okay so this story is coming to an end... sniff... but despite knowing exactly what's going to happen I do have a few scenes that were going to be in it but didn't fit or whatever so I had to take them out. So after some serious thinking on the subject (it hurt) I decided to publish the 'deleted scenes' with some 'additional scenes' I thought of. I'll put them up probably on this story thing after the chapters of the main story so... stay tuna-ed ;) lmao**

**As usual I want to say thanks to a few new people ... pherrancullen, renesmee44, silvergoldsun, jane-vivian-volturi, adicted2twilight, hannapam and gabiwoods for all the new reviews/faves... etc**

**also a hi to Nonie who's sitting next to me, and a well done if she's reached this far... shhh don't tell anybody!**

**and then of course to stonecoldheart27 who hasn't emailed me back in aaaaages :'( yeah yeah you got to college now, no excuse! :P .... lmao love you really....**


	18. Twins

After the tension had broken, the rest of the evening ran comfortably. When the other's had arrived they took the food and left for the beach where two of the wolves from Sam's pack – Colin and Brady Willis – had already got a bonfire going.

They were both emos and very close twins. They weren't identical but they dressed very similarly. According to Embry, with them being so young and as it hadn't happened to them yet, they were very much against the whole imprinting thing. They often teased and annoyed all those who had imprinted so meeting them had been quite funny…

"So," Colin had said, his eyes narrowed as he gave Jaq the once over. "You must be Jaq."

"Yeah."

"Jaq?" Brady asked. His expression similar to his brother's. "Odd name."

"It's short for Jacqueline."

"_Ew_."

"That's why I'm called Jaq."

"I see…"

"So Jaq," Colin crossed his arms. "What music are you into?"

"Guys…" Embry groaned.

"We need to know if we'll accept her."

"Exactly. We don't just accept anyone. Even you're only _just_ in our good books."

"Thanks so much." He muttered. They ignored him and looked at Jaq expectantly.

"Well?"

"Err… basically similar to Embry."

"In _detail_." Colin stressed.

"Okay," Brady said. "Let's play a little game. We say a word and you say the first song that comes to your head."

"Guys…" Embry tried again.

"Shdum tall one." Colin cut him off. "You don't deserve to speak."

"Okay…" Jaq bit her lip.

"Right so we say... Mentally Deranged… you say…"

"And you _can't_ say Embry." Brady added. Embry growled quietly.

"Basket Case – Greenday."

"Vomit."

"I'm So Sick – Flyleaf."

"Aliens."

"Parallel Worlds – Elliot Minor."

"Pants."

"_Pants_?!"

"Liar, liar – The Used."

"Schizophrenic."

"Psycho – Puddle Of Mudd."

"Payphone."

"What's My Age Again – Blink 182."

"Zoo."

"Animal I Have Become – Three Days Grace."

"Zip."

"Pulse Of The Maggots – Slipknot."

"Lung Cancer."

"Smoke and Mirrors – The Audition."

"Zombies."

"Wake The Dead – The Used."

"Lewis Carroll."

"_What the heck dude_?"

"Cellar Door – Escape The Fate."

"Snowman."

"As Cold As You – Taylor Swift."

"Hmm…Cockroach."

"Hollywood Whore – Papa Roach."

"Bouncy ball."

"Bouncing Off The Walls – Sugarcult."

"Hmmm…" Colin looked thoughtful as he deliberated. Finally he looked at Brady who nodded. "Okay you got 92%.... welcome to the family!" He gave her a hug.

"Err… thanks?"

"Not sure about the Swift one though…" Brady said as he hugged her too.

"That's why you only got 92… That one was worth 8%." Colin explained. "But you got over the pass mark so we'll forgive you."

"What's the pass mark?" Embry asked.

"75%."

"What did I get?"

"76%"

"Aww what?!"

"Guess I beat you there Em." Jaq giggled.

"It was the Kelly Clarkson wasn't it?"

"That and the Lady Gaga. But you passed so we _have_ to accept you. It's the rules."

"But if they're your rules, couldn't you just change them?"

"Shh ye who only got 76%"

"You Willis kids are so annoying."

"Just you wait 'til Alex phases. Then they'll be _three_ of us."

"Urgh." Embry groaned. "Two of you is bad enough."

"You know maybe if you were nicer to us Embry we might play less pranks on you."

Embry rolled his eyes and pulled Jaq away from the crazy twins and towards the bonfire.

**I dedicate this lovely chapter to my good friend stonecoldheart27 who loves these characters... :D (missing you dude)**

**Yeah so i was off ill today and wrote looooads .... (It's nearly finished...sniff) but I'm gonna stagger putting it up... :D**

**Anyway, in the books colin and brady are barely mentioned so that leaves plenty of space for atistic lisence ;) ... yeah so this is how me and my friend imagine them... personally i think they're kinda cute... but the other wolves dont think so... maybe it's because of all the pranks they play on them ;) haha.... imagine what it'll be like when little brother Alex phases.... haha _triple_ trouble...**

**Okay so... commence thanking... do you know what? everyone keeps asking me why i do this.. but i keep saying that these people have taken time out of their lives to write me a review so i should give up a few seconds to say thanks.......... anyhoo.... thanks to my new reviewers... J3LLY83AN, LollyDudetteHaha, TwiHardFanWendi, 'A-l-I-c-I-a-H-o-L-l-I-e', MyGhost31.... plus anyone I've missed (tell me if i have)**

**Ahem... shout out to Mercury-Serenity who's been reading for a while now :D ... sorry .. i was supposed to do this last chapter but i was short of time and forgot (i was sooo not updating in my free periods)**

**Oh and a hello to ZizzyBelle who's new... i've actually met her in person ... WOOH ENGLISH LIT!! **

**(yes stonecoldheart27 i've met you too lmao)**

**Love you all ~**

**PepperX **


	19. Leah

**Oh yeah... one minor rude insult in this chapter... just thought I'd warn you .... **

Jaq made friends with the other werewolves but much to Embry's dismay had a blatant preference for Colin and Brady. She spent most of the evening talking and laughing with them. They nicknamed her Lady Drac and continued to call her that the whole time.

When it was finally time to leave Jaq didn't want to. But she was well aware of Connor's eyes drooping so called Connor and said her goodbyes.

"See now that wasn't too bad was it?" Embry asked as they walked Connor back to the Cullens.

"I have no idea what I was so worried about."

"Sorry about Colin and Brady. They're like that with everyone…"

"Aww no I liked them!" Jaq grinned. "They were funny."

"I like them too." Connor piped. "They said they're going to give me a _musical_ _education_."

"Poor you."

They dropped Connor off at the Cullens and went to sit out in the garden. They sat in the same tree as they had the night Embry had explained to Jaq about imprinting.

"I had fun tonight." Jaq smiled as she leant against his chest.

"Me too."

"Thanks for taking me."

"Well it would've been boring without you there."

"I don't think that's true."

"Trust me it is."

"Pfft. Well anyway, Connor sure enjoyed himself. It was a good idea inviting him."

"He got on pretty well with Sam and Emily didn't he?"

"Yeah. They've invited him back especially." Jaq smiled. "Isn't that sweet?"

"Well who couldn't love him?" Embry laughed. "He's an awesome kid."

Jaq heard him stifle a yawn and turned quickly to him. The dark circles under his eyes were getting worse by the day.

"Embry why are you always so tired at the moment?"

"Err…"

"I mean, I know you have more patrols than before but it doesn't seem to affect the others as much as it does to you."

"Well the thing is…" He bit his lip. "Well… I… I've been doing more patrols than the others."

"Well that's not fair. Is Jacob making you do that? Do I have to have a word with him?"

"Jaq," Embry frowned. "I'm pretty sure we've already had this conversation."

"Yeah but why are you doing more than the others?"

"Because I… I like to check you're okay. I run around Forks every night to check it's clear."

"_Embry_."

"I don't like you being so far away."

"Embry you can't just not sleep and I can look after myself."

"I know but – the not knowing… it's painful."

"You'll make yourself ill."

"I can't help it."

Jaq sighed and closed her eyes. There had to be a way around this. He couldn't keep doing this to himself…

"Okay," She said opening her eyes. "So you don't like being so far away from me?" He nodded. "Well in that case I'll just stay with you."

"But what about Conner?"

"He'll be fine he's got Nathan and _you_ need to sleep."

"Are- are you sure?"

"Very much so. Now come on you need to sleep now. I'm not carrying you home if you fall asleep on your feet now."

He laughed and they began to walk to Embry's house. They walked along the familiar path until Jaq began to recognise the houses on the outskirts of La Push.

"Oh, it's Leah. She must've just got off patrol." Embry pointed to the dark figure walking across the street opposite. "Leah!" He called and they both ran over to her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, looking directly at Embry and ignoring Jaq.

"You have the Friday patrol right?"

"Yeah, with Seth."

"Well I was wondering if I could swap it with my Wednesday. Jake said I had to ask you."

"Why do you want it?"

"Because it'll mean I'm more likely to turn up to school."

She snorted. "Sure if you're that desperate."

"Thanks Leah you're a life saver."

"I know."

She waved goodbye to him and began to walk off. She'd barely taken three steps when the bottom of the paper bag she had been carrying split. The contents splayed all over the ground and she bent down to pick it all up, cursing. Jaq picked up the tin of beans that had rolled next to her foot and handed it to her.

"I don't need your help leech." She spat. Embry growled. "Well she is a leech Embry. She's just as bad as the rest of them."

"Jaq's _different_."

"She sucks blood, therefore she is a bloodsucker. Nice to know you're sleeping with the enemy Embry. What are you going to do when she attacks your family, eh?"

Embry growled again, louder this time and Jaq pulled him back. He'd begun to shake and she didn't want him attacking Leah.

"Come on Embry, let's go."

"Yes go on Embry skip away with your parasite of a girlfriend."

"Embry it's not worth it."

"You're right. She's not worth it." He glared at Leah. "_Bitch_. No wonder Sam ditched you for Emily. I'd do the same any day." He spat and turned to walk to his house leaving Leah frozen on the road. Jaq ran after him.

"Embry."

He didn't say anything. His fists were balled up in an attempt to calm himself.

"Embry _stop_." She ran in front of him and put her hands on his chest grinding him to a halt.

"What?"

"Embry you can't say that to her that's harsh!"

"She insulted you."

"I don't care."

"Well _I_ care."

"Embry, listen to me. It's just another Nathan situation. She doesn't understand."

"Oh she understands all right."

"Embry, you have to go apologise."

"_What_?"

"You have to apologise. You really hurt her then."

"She hurt me!"

"Embry I'm not kidding."

"Let me get this straight," He frowned. "You want me to go apologise to the girl who just insulted you to your face?"

"Yes, now. I'll stay here."

He sighed. "_Fine_… but only because you're making me."

He ran down the road Leah had left on and out of sight. Jaq leaned against the wall of a house and stared at the sky. She couldn't forget the pained look on Leah's face as Embry said those words. Poor Leah…

She looked back down and saw Embry jogging back to her.

"Okay, I've apologised." He said when he reached her.

"Good."

"Sorry I lost my temper back there Jaq." He bit his lip. "I didn't want you to have to see that…"

Jaq rolled her eyes. "It's okay. Just… don't torment the poor girl like that. It's not fair."

"I know." He sighed. "You're right."

"I always am."

**...Poor poor Leah :(**

**"I thought you were going to stagger the chapters" ...Yes well i am but this was initially part of the last chapter... i decided it was too long and chopped it in half... but this one feels a bit naked with out the last one so i thought i'd put them up together :)**

**Oh! And i wrote some of the deleted/additional scenes i mentioned before too :D .... they're so funny.... most of them are basically Jaq and Embry goofing around.. lmao ... i love them so much haha....**

**Loves ~**

**PepperX **


	20. Friends?

Jaq couldn't believe it was Thursday evening already. It was like the past few weeks had just been a good dream. Why did Delano have to come now? Why did he have to come just when they had settled and become happy?

They were in the clearing having their last strategic meeting before the next day. Embry was in wolf form sitting on the floor with Jaq leaning up against him.

Both the wolf packs were here, Sam's pack sitting slightly closer to the Cullens than before. Jaq and Embry were seating right in the middle - sitting with the wolves rather than the Cullens. Nathan kept shooting worried looks at them but Jaq ignored him and listened to the meeting.

They were deciding who would fight which vampire…

"We've decided which of us is to fight who," Jasper was saying. "so we'll tell you our decisions and leave the Alphas to decide where to place their pack members."

He looked at the two biggest wolves and Sam nodded his huge black head.

"Okay well," Jasper continued. "Jaq and Nathan have requested to fight Delano..." Embry looked up and whined.

"You'll have to take that up with Jacob." Edward said. Embry looked over to Jacob who nodded and Embry relaxed. Jaq stroked the back of his head.

"Well in that case," Jasper nodded. "Jaq, Nathan and Embry are against Delano. Rosalie and Esme are up against Evelyn, Emmett and Carlisle are with Dante, myself and Edward with Claudia… which leaves Alice and Bella, as requested, against Prudence." Neither him nor Edward looked happy with this arrangement at all.

The wolves deliberated for a moment. Finally Sam looked up.

"We've decided." Edward said in Sam's voice. "Paul will go against Evelyn, Brady will help with Dante, Jared and Colin will go with Claudia and I'll help against Delano. I hope you don't mind but I want to keep the others out of the main fight, they're far too young. They can help protect Connor and Nessie instead."

Jasper nodded in agreement and turned to Jacob.

"Okay well we'll fill in the gaps that Sam left." Edward said for Jacob. "I'll help with Dante. I don't like the idea of Brady up against him." Brady made a disgruntled noise but everyone ignored him. They all agreed with Jacob. Brady and his twin were way too young for this surely. "Leah and Quil can take Prudence and Seth can help out with Evelyn."

Leah gave a small growl; obviously she wasn't so happy with her baby brother up against such a dangerous woman. Seth rolled his eyes at her unconcerned but Jaq had to agree with Leah. She didn't think he should be fighting her either.

"Okay well…" Jasper spoke again. "That's it. If you're a wolf may I suggest you go home and get some rest. If you're a vampire, you'll want to go hunting before tomorrow."

Sam nodded and led his pack away. Jacob's pack ran off to the bushes to change. When they came back Embry headed straight for Jaq and pulled her into a hug.

"I want to go hunting with you." He said into her hair.

"Embry you need to rest."

"Do you honestly think I'll be able to sleep if you're anywhere but with me? Especially tonight!"

Jaq sighed. "Okay, you can come. But it'll be short and I'm taking you straight home after."

He nodded, his face in a tight, worried frown.

"Hey," Jaq stroked his face. "It'll be okay."

"I know… and I know you can look after yourself but I just so scared about losing you."

"I'm not going anywhere." She smiled and hugged him tightly."

"Ahem." Someone coughed behind them. Jaq let go and turned around. It was Leah. "Can… can I have a word?" She asked Jaq hesitantly.

"…Sure?"

"I'll go talk to Jake about what we're going to do with Connor and Nessie tomorrow." Embry said and left the two girls alone.

They stood awkwardly for a moment unsure what to say. Finally Leah looked up.

"Listen, blo-… _Jaq_…" She said attempting to be nice. "I don't like you. That's no secret. But you're Embry's imprint so I have to… what I'm trying to say is…" She bit her lip. "I'm sorry for the other night. I should've said that. It wasn't fair."

"It's okay. I understand. Nathan's going through the same thing."

"Well I… I still shouldn't have said that."

"Embry shouldn't have said what he did either." Jaq shrugged. "But seriously it's okay."

"Guess he explained what that was all about…"

"Well…" Embry had said he wasn't supposed to tell her…

"It's okay. I don't mind he told you." Leah half smiled. "Everyone else knows anyway." She added bitterly.

Jaq looked at the ground uncomfortably. "You know… I want to say some sort of words of encouragement but you don't seem the type that would take that well…"

Leah laughed. "However did you guess… though… the…err…thought was nice…" She frowned. "See before all that I was actually a nice person. I wasn't always this _emotionally stunted shrew_…"

"You are a nice person."

Leah snorted. "Sure, if I was a nice person I'd have forgiven Emily and Sam by now and I'd be spending all my free time over at theirs like I used to."

"You were hurt, Leah. That doesn't make you a bad person."

"I don't even _talk_ to them unless I absolutely have to and I haven't been over to their place for years."

"You will in time. You have to give yourself time though first. One day you'll suddenly get over it and start talking to them again."

"Can't wait 'til that day…" Leah muttered then she looked up. "Can't believe I'm spilling my guts to a vampire… This doesn't make us friends you know."

"Don't worry." Jaq laughed. "I know."

"So anyway… where is this kid?" Leah changed the subject. "I want to know who I'm fighting to stay alive…"

"He's over at Embry's with Ben." Jaq smiled. "They're getting on really well."

"Can't have had much contact with kids his own age can he?"

"No, it's defiantly been hard for him. But if… _when_ we defeat Delano we're going to enrol him into a school. The La Push one most likely since he already knows Ben."

"Nice school that is. I went there when I was little. Watch out for Mr Smith though. He's a nasty piece of work…he was always harassing me … and Seth. I swear he's taught there for _centuries_."

Jaq laughed. "I will."

"So are you…err… going to change him?" Leah tried to hide her disgust. "You know… when he gets older."

"I don't know." Jaq sighed. "I don't want to at all but well… he says he wants it."

"Ahh…"

They fell silent as they began to walk back to the group.

"What was that about?" Embry asked as he pulled Jaq into a hug.

"Just…talking." Jaq shrugged. "So, you ready to go hunting?"

**In case you didn't get that the Planned Line-up is:**

**_~Delano – Jaq, Nathan, Embry, Sam_**

**_~Evelyn – Rose, Esme, Paul, Seth_**

**_~Dante – Emmett, Carlisle, Jacob, Brady_**

**_~Claudia – Jasper, Edward, Jared, Colin_**

**_~Pru – Alice, Bella, Leah, Quil_**

**Okay, firstly wanna say thanks to Pherracullen who saved me a lot of time and effort working the basics of that out ;) lmao i dedicate this chapter to you :D**

**Thanks to le personne nouveux (can't spell that word urgh) Lexi Roxi Lauren Chipsterz xxx for reviewnessess....**

**Anyway so i was ill yesterday... did i tell you that? well anyway yes i was ill and so wrote quite a lot (hence the updating next day thing...) i even wrote the last scene... sniff so sad... (Actually half-cried when i wrote it) but unfortunatly for you guys i haven't finished all of the stuff in the middle so you'll have to wait ;) lmao**

**Oh and btw i estimate roughly another 7 or 8 chapters... sniff sniff it's coming to an end.... **


	21. Hunting

Jaq ran after the deer and pounced. The creature's feeble attempts to escape quickly stopped as she sucked the life out of it. Beside her Embry brought down another deer and swiftly began ripping it apart and eating it like a proper wolf.

Wiping the blood off her face, Jaq made a face. Feeding this way never failed to disgust her. Embry looked at her quizzically wondering what was up.

"I'm fine." She smiled at him. She looked up hearing another herd of deer run past. "Bet I can get the biggest one down." She grinned at Embry.

His expression seemed to say "Is that a challenge?" She laughed and they both ran after the herd.

Suddenly she was aware that Embry had gone. Panicking, she stopped and looked around.

"Embry?"

She bit her lip, getting seriously scared now, when she heard a heart beat. Before she could work out where it was coming from a huge wolf the size of a bear pounced on her and knocked her to the ground.

"Embry!" She exclaimed. "You scared me then." His expression was smug. "Yes, okay, you got me. So what? I'll get you next time." He made a cough-like sounding laugh and licked her face from chin to hairline. "Urgh! Gross! _Wolf germs_!" She laughed and licked his nose back.

"Eww…" Said a voice a few metres away. Jaq looked up to see Rosalie and Emmett standing there grinning at them.

"Oh, hey guys." They fumbled to stand up and Jaq brushed herself off.

"Are you…err… ready to go?" Rosalie asked, trying to contain a smile. Emmett just stood there grinning. Jaq could tell there was something he waned to say and had a feeling she'd hear it later.

"Sure…" Jaq bit her lip, a little embarrassed and worried about what Emmett was thinking.

Rosalie and Emmett lead the way and Embry and Jaq followed along behind. Even in wolf form Embry was way taller than Jaq. It was embarrassing…

Embry kept looking down at her with a smug look on his face and she made faces back. Finally she got bored of walking and turned to Embry.

"Race ya?" She asked. He grinned and they set off leaving Rosalie and Emmett walking along behind. They ran through the fields and forests until they reached the Cullen's house.

Embry knocked his nose against Jaq's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… so you won that one. I don't care." She made a face at him. "Now go get changed so we can say goodnight to Connor."

With a final smug grin he loped off into the trees to change. A few moments later he returned and took her hand.

"Second time today I've beaten you." He grinned. "So that's what? Two – nil to Embry?"

"Oh har har. You just wait, I'll get you back."

"I'm so scared."

"You should be."

They walked inside the house and found Edward playing the piano.

_Where's Connor?_ Jaq thought, not bothering to speak.

"In his room last time I heard." Edward answered without breaking the tune.

Jaq nodded and lead Embry up the stairs and along the corridor to Connor's room. She pushed the door open quietly and the crept into the bedroom.

Connor was asleep. He was so small compared to the ridiculously sized king-size bed that he looked like he was lost. Jaq smiled at him and moved to sit on the edge by his head and Embry sat in the chair next to the bed. She stroked Connor's peaceful, sleeping face and his eyelids fluttered open.

"Jaq?"

"Hey kiddo, just came to say goodnight."

"Are you going?" He asked quietly.

"Just to Embry's I'll be back in the morning. I promise." He nodded and hugged her, his pale face shined in the moon light. "'Night then."

"Goodnight Jaq. 'Night Uncle Embry." He had taken to calling him this since Jaq had found out about the whole imprinting thing.

Embry chucked and hugged him. "'Night kid."

They crept out of the room and back down the stairs.

"He's going to have nightmares tonight I can tell." Jaq mumbled.

"So stay with him if you're worried. I'll handle it for one night." He assured her.

"He has Nathan. They'll manage."

Embry nodded, unsure.

"Hey Jaq." Rosalie smiled.

"Hi Rose." Jaq gave a strained smile. "I'm just going over to Embry's for the night. Could you tell Nathan for me please? I think he's going to have nightmares again."

"Sure."

"Oh ho." Emmett grinned, walking from the lounge into the corridor. "Did I just hear that right?"

Jaq groaned. "I'm not in the mood Emmett."

"No. In the mood for something else, eh, Jaq-with-a-q?" He laughed. "It is the last night before the fight after all."

"Very funny." Jaq scowled. Rosalie held back a smile, not wanting to annoy her friend. "Okay well we're off. See you."

Jaq pushed Embry out the door and left the grinning couple behind. Urgh, why did he have to have such a perverted mind?

"Urgh." Embry groaned. "I can't stand her."

"Who?"

"_Rosalie_. All she does is glare at people."

"She's not so bad." Jaq smiled. "I get on with her really well."

"Yeah, no offence but I don't understand that."

"Well she's slightly less crazy than Alice…"

"You know Jake refers to her as the psycho blonde, right?"

"Does he really?"

"Uhu."

**Awww.... Connor.... don't have nightmares!**

**Anyway, the next few chapters are going to be super hard to write - I suck and writing all things action-y - so please forgive me if it takes a while to write....**

**In the meantime though, go check out the deleted/additional scenes for this story! I've published them as a seperate story instead of my original plan.... just so.... yeah.... Unfortunalty to understand them you'll have to read the author's note at the top where it explains where abouts in the story its set. But if you're not an author's note type person (like me) you can ignore the ones at the bottom.... i guess......**

**Okay so thanks to ..... lluvialpz, MrsLautnerCullen, xXAMBERXx, checkers1, Graciemayoreilly, Diva Roweled.... and anyone I've missed. You guys make me so happy :)**

**Right so loves ~**

**PepperX**


	22. Last Night

They spent the rest of the journey back to Embry's in silence. Finally, they reached his house and quietly climbed up through his window.

Jaq looked around at what was now a very familiar room. Familiar and comforting.

"Jaq."

She turned around to look at his beautiful face and the reality of what was happening tomorrow hit her. He could get hurt tomorrow, he could die…

"Jaq," He pulled her into a hug. "What's wrong?"

"I'm so scared." She whispered. "I'm scared about tomorrow. I could lose you, or one of the others."

"Hey," He smiled. "I'm not going anywhere."

"But this is our fault and if anything happened…"

"_Nothing_ is going to happen, I promise."

"You don't know that."

"Jaq, love," He lifted her face to look up at his. "Nothing is going to happen. We'll all be fine, really."

"But…" She started but was cut off by his lips crushing against hers.

When they'd finally broken apart she'd forgotten what she'd been so worried about.

"Better?" Embry asked with a smile.

"Very much so thank you." Jaq frowned, remembering the reason for them being there in the first place. "Embry I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be sleeping by now."

"Aww Jaq."

"Bed."

"You're such a buzz-kill." He muttered as they got into their usual position on the bed – Embry's arms around Jaq and his head on her stomach.

"_Goodnight_ Embry." She smiled.

"'Night Jaq."

After only a few seconds he began to lightly snore. Jaq stroked his black, short but shaggy hair absently. She felt vaguely jealous of him. He was able to sleep, to leave behind for a few hours the feeling of impending doom of the next day. She thought through all the faces of the new friends she'd made, the Cullens, Jacob's pack, Sam's pack… They could all so easily be hurt tomorrow.

Jaq swallowed and wished again that like Embry she could be asleep and oblivious to it all…

As it turned out Embry wasn't as oblivious as she thought he'd be. He woke three times during the night with nightmares that he denied. But soon after falling asleep again he talked, obviously in nightmares. Jaq resisted the urge to wake him and save him from them. He needed sleep – no matter how troubled it was.

**Sorry for such a short chapter! I thought this scene would be longer...**

**Thanks to Lalita & Harry-Potter-Fan-Girl for new reviews nd stoof....**

**Haha we had a fire drill today... so funny... and some random guy smiled at me a sec ago (in the library) ... i think i may have glared at him... i'm in a bit of a bad mood... maybe i scared him away lmao... oop no there he is... -.-' ... maybe i should apologise lmao**

**Anyway, thnks, sorry this took so long to get up... It was a pretty hard scene to write.. See, jaq and embry technically have known each other for only about 3 weeks even though it doesnt seem like it... This was a difficult scene to write because it _was_ the night before the fight and i wanted it to reflect that.. but i didn't want it to get hugley physical and for them to go all the way... I don't think they're at that stage yet lmao ... **

**Errr... yeah so hi to stonecoldheart27.... you rock and i miss you dude.... omg i saw another semi-decent hair guy today haha..... he was in the library.... just my type *wink* ... nahh kidding his face was like a troll lmao**

**Okay gonna go now .... **

**Loves ~**

**Pepperx**


	23. Friday

**Incase you can't remember Delano controls electricity and lightning, Claudia is a powerful tracker, Evelyn can make you believe anything just by eye contact, Dante controls animals and Prudence controls fire (not creates it, just controls it) and can also make you feel incredibly thirsty... Now hold your breath this is a very full on chapter...**

The next morning seemed like a dream. They barely spoke, just numbly got on with what they had to do. Jaq and Embry walked to the Cullens' picked up Connor and brought him back to Ben's. Jaq took one last look at his pale, scared face and kissed him on the head before leaving behind with his new friend.

Embry gave a small nod to the younger pack members hiding outside his house where they'd been stationed to watch Connor and the two of them set off for the clearing…

-~*~-

Jaq gripped onto Embry's fur as Alice counted down the seconds.

"1 minute 20 seconds." She said in less than a whisper.

She thought about Connor, back at La Push where they had left him with Ben and the younger pack members. How worried was he? Was he okay?

Embry whined and Jaq moved closer to him.

"50 seconds."

She stared at the gap in the trees that Alice had pointed out earlier. The others did the same.

"30 seconds."

Beside her she heard Embry's heart rate increase and was sure that if hers was living, it'd be doing the same. She gripped Embry's fur even tighter and slowly six figures came into view.

First to appear from the mist was Delano. He ran at full speed into the clearing and stopped in the centre with an amused expression. He was just as she remembered him. His pale skin was tight against his bony face, which was framed by his long, below-shoulder length hair. He stared across the clearing at them, his blood red eyes forming a calculating stare.

He was followed by Claudia, Evelyn and Dante. Claudia joined Delano, standing next to him. She didn't look at him, instead adopting the staring he was doing, but where his stare was calculating hers was blank as if she had no thoughts at all. Physically she was very different to him. While Delano was tall, pale and thin, Claudia was small with olive toned skin. Her dark hair was braided and the way she stood reminded Jaq somewhat of a rag-doll.

Dante stood by Evelyn, his dark blond hair in an old fashioned cut and a white shirt that showed off his obvious muscles. He also had a huge Emmett-like grin on his face. Evelyn smiled serenely looking innocent and lovely as ever with her long dark hair almost reaching the top of her skirt.

Jaq purposely avoided eye contact, instead looking around for the scruffy, blonde pony tailed girl that was Prudence.

A second later she followed the others out, along with a huge silver-grey wolf. A shape shifter.

Jaq frowned confused. What the hell? Surely the Quileutes were the only ones with the shape shifting power? At least that had been what Embry had told her. Beside her Embry seemed just as confused, his puzzled expression fixed on the other wolf. On his other side the two packs were the same.

"Jaq," Delano hissed and she immediately turned back to the blood red eyes. "Nathan, you've made some new friends I see."

"So have you, I notice." Nathan nodded towards the other werewolf.

"A matter of convenience I assure you. Nothing more." He leered and turned back to Jaq. "Unlike you it seems. Your Jaq seems to be _quite_ taken with that dog there."

Jaq felt a hiss escape from her lips. How _dare_ he insult Embry?

Delano chuckled ominously.

"I assume you know why we're here?" He smiled innocently. "Especially since you're so well prepared. It's such a shame we'll have to …destroy it."

Behind him Dante laugh and Nathan hissed at him.

"So where is our young Connor?"

"You'll never have him Delano!" Jaq glared.

"Oh, we'll see." He smiled again. Beside her Embry growled.

Jaq could see that a fight was drawing close. The werewolf would complicate things – he had not been part of the plan – but the others would sort that out. It wasn't her problem. Delano was her problem…

She felt Embry tense beside her and she readied herself to pounce. She narrowed her eyes at Delano and waited for a signal.

"Just hand us the kid and you'll all get out of this alive." Dante said. But his grin said otherwise.

Jaq hissed.

"I think that was a no…" Evelyn smiled serenely.

With a slight nod of his head Delano signalled to the others. Dante stepped forward grinning and from the bushes a whole host of moose and deer stormed out towards Jaq and her friends.

Delano stood still with a sadistic smile on his pale face as the others stared the attack. Jaq hissed under her breath. _How could he look so relaxed?_

Avoiding the herd of mismatched animals Jaq ran, with Embry at her side, towards Delano.

"Ahh," He smiled. "Jaq and her canine friend. I was wondering if you'd come to me first. Oh and Nathan and another animal." He laughed as Nathan and Sam reached them.

"Don't insult my friends." Jaq hissed and pounced at him. The other three followed suit but he fought them off easily.

"Give me Connor, Jaq, and your _friends_ will be safe."

"Never!"

Beside them Emmett, Carlisle, Jacob and Brady were fighting Dante with difficulty. True it was only a few animals but it was the amount that was the problem. They couldn't actually reach him through the mass.

"But they're _losing_ Jaq." Delano drawled.

Jaq looked around the clearing and saw that it was true.

Colin was helping with Claudia but seeing his brother against Dante, he left her to help Brady. Together they managed to avoid the animals and actually reached Dante. But their efforts were in vain as he sent a horde of huge moose in their direction, throwing upwards into the air at high speed.

A few metres away Rosalie, Esme, Paul and Seth were taking on Evelyn with great difficulty - trying to fight whilst avoiding eye contact was immensely difficult. Seth accidently caught her eye and froze. Seeing her chance Evelyn pounced at him but Rosalie, realising what was happening, pushed him out the way and stopped her.

Leah, Alice, Bella and Quil were fighting Prudence. Leah managed to get a near swipe at her but seeing this, the werewolf left his fight against Jared and attacked her. Sam gave a loud whine and left Delano to help her.

Jasper and Edward were cautiously fighting Claudia, obviously ill-at-ease with the fact she was a woman. Her eyes were unnaturally focused compared to the blank expression she usually had. Alice wove close past her, partway through a fight with Prudence.

Claudia spun around and lunged at her. Jasper hissed and pounced on her, all problems with her being a woman lost. Without difficulty he brought her to the ground and ripped her head off.

Delano gave a strangled cry and stepped towards his dead mate.

"Who's loosing now?" Jaq grinned.

Nathan pounced at the frozen Delano but was carried off by a herd of Dante's animals. Seeing her open, Delano lunged for Jaq but Embry jumped in front, blocking her off and pulling him to the ground, getting electrocuted in the process.

He managed to keep him there for a moment but was eventually thrown off by Delano. He flew up into the air and landed in a heap some feet away.

"Embry!" Jaq left Delano and sprinted over to the mass of mahogany fur. "Embry are you okay? Please tell me you're okay. Please…"

Embry gave a loud groan and his eyes flickered open. Jaq gave a loud sigh of relief.

She looked up to the middle of the clearing where the others were still fighting. Embry struggled to his feet and Jaq saw Alice stop Bella and Quil from attacking Prudence. _What_?

They didn't seem to know what was going on either, their faces a picture of confusion, but Alice was smiling.

"We've got him." She whispered.

Jaq frowned in confusion and watched as Prudence made her way through the fighting towards Delano.

"Delano." She said clearly, making everyone freeze.

"Prudence what-…?"

"Delano, you're done." She glared at him. "Finished."

"What? It's…" He looked over to the silver-grey wolf. "It's him isn't it? That dog has turned you against me! I knew we should've left him to die!"

"Drake's done nothing. He's more to me than any of you are." She continued to glare at Delano. "_You've_ turned me against you."

"Prudence…"

"Don't try your mind games on me Delano. I can't deal with this anymore. I'm not going to sit by and watch you do this again."

"Pr-…"

"You're done Delano." She repeated. She went into her bag pocket and pulled out a box of matches. She lit one and smiled at him. "Goodbye."

His eyes widened with fear and the flame grew bigger. Then, with the force of an oil explosion the flame turned into a fire-cloud and engulfed him.

Jaq stood frozen next to Embry. Had that really just happened? The others stayed still too.

"_Prudence_!" Dante yelled and she turned to him. Before she had bothered to answer him the werewolf – Drake – lunged at him and brought him to the ground. The other wolves jumped in to help and he was soon ripped to pieces.

The Cullens quickly pounced on Evelyn and held her to the ground. Prudence walked over to her slowly.

"Prudence you bitch!" Evelyn screeched. "You betrayed us! You and that stupid _dog_!"

"Hey Evelyn," Prudence smiled, ignoring her. "That dress you tried on yesterday, I lied. It made you look fat."

Evelyn gave some sort of strangled cry and continued to scream bloody murder. Prudence didn't bat an eyelid. Instead she lit another match and like Delano, Evelyn was engulfed in a cloud of flame.

Drake, finished with Dante, trotted up next to her and she buried her face in his fur.

"Oh Drake," She cried. "Oh god, Drake…"

**Well.... I apologise for the uptight way that was written, I suck at all things action-y lmao...**

**I was initially going to put this chapter and the next together into one but this one got too long and... well... I haven't finished the next one yet haha.... -.-'**

**Right so, thanks to moviefreak12, jay-loo, Sasha88, shire.... and anyothers i've missed for all the new reviews/faves....**

**Umm well this story's almost over (sniff) and I've got a new one started up (I won't publish it 'til this is finished though) It's a Jared and Kim one and it'll only be about 6 or 7 chapters long... after that though I'm not sure what to do... I've got a million ideas but I'm not sure which to choose... **

**I was thinking either a EmilyXSamXLeah one... or a JamesXLily one (from harry potter) or a PaulXSomeone or a QuilXClaire.... I will eventually write them all but I'm trying to decide which first..... give me a comment on what you think..... The EmilyXSamXLeah one is more likely to be first but I may change my mind, I have a lot of the LilyXJames written already....**

**I'm also at some point going to write a SethXSomeone sometimes soon but you'll have to wait for that, I'm still deciding the story line...... I warn you though... it won't be as happy-clappy-sunshine-and-lollipops as the others..... **

**on a happier note check out my awesome friend Stonecoldheart27's new story with me in it!! :) isn't that awesome?! It's only one chapter long so far but it already rocks... ;)**

**must be 'cus i'm in it haha...**

**Okay so love you all (especially you Stonecoldheart27)**

**~ PepperX**


	24. Siblings

"Embry," Jaq murmured. "Could you go change? I want to be able to hear you."

Embry nodded and trotted off to the bushes followed by the other pack members.

Prudence went into her tiny bag and pulled out a pair of long men's shorts. She offered them to Drake who took them in his mouth and ran off to change.

Those left stood awkwardly not knowing what to say. Eventually the wolves returned as humans. Embry came straight over to Jaq and pulled her against his chest.

"I'm so glad you're okay." He mumbled into her hair. "I'm so glad this is over."

She didn't answer, deciding instead to hug him tighter. Finally they broke apart and Jaq remembered the other two…

Prudence and Drake were awkwardly out of the crowd of hugging vampires and werewolves. They stood very close to each other and looked like they wanted to run off.

Jaq took a deep breath and walked towards them, Embry following, her hand still in his.

"Prudence…"

"Jaq."

They stood awkwardly looking at each other for a minute. No one knew what to say. Finally Jacob walked over and held his hand out to Drake.

"Hey I'm Jacob."

"Hi…" Drake shook his hand nervously.

"Do you think we could talk to you for a few minutes?" Sam asked. He had followed Jacob over and was looking at Drake curiously. "Just to talk."

Drake looked at Prudence uncertainly.

"It's okay," She smiled at him. "I'll stay with these two 'til you come back."

He hesitated for a moment then nodded and walked off with the two Alphas, presumably to talk about his history and how he was a wolf.

"So err…" Jaq said. "How'd you meet him?" She nodded to the figure of Drake walking in the distance.

"We found him unconscious in a dump in Berlin. I persuaded Delano to let him stay with us, saying he was added strength."

"Is he the reason you changed your mind?"

"Mostly, but it's been coming for a while now." Prudence nodded. "What about you and…?" She gestured to Embry.

"This is Embry. I met him at the Cullens'. They're the vampire family here." She gestured to the Cullens.

"They have golden eyes like you." She said curiously. "Vegetarians too?"

"Yeah."

"_So w__eird_…"

Jaq chose to ignore that comment.

"Well…" She began hesitantly. She had no idea what to say…

Luckily at that point Drake, Sam and Jacob returned allowing the awkward conversation to come to an end.

Carlisle chose that moment to walk over then.

"Prudence, Drake," He smiled. "We cannot thank you enough."

"That's err… okay…" The rest of the sentence was left unsaid. They knew she hadn't done it for them…

Drake took Prudence's hand and squeezed it.

"Pru can we…?" He said quietly. She nodded and looked up at Jaq.

"We're just going to… go if that's okay…"

"Sure…" Jaq smiled stiffly. "I'm sure you'd be welcome to stay for a few days at the very least if you wanted."

"No it's okay… we… err just want to get out of here…"

"Alright then."

They both gave a short nod and quickly left the clearing together avoiding the droppings left by Dante's animals.

"You know he imprinted on her right?" Embry murmured as they watched the couple walk away.

"I know." Jaq nodded. "I could tell by their auras. They both had a pale orange by their right ear."

"Do you think they know?"

"'Spect that's the sort of thing Sam and Jacob were talking to him about."  
That and where he'd come from, how he could possibly be a wolf.

"True. Guess it wouldn't make a difference if they didn't mention it to them. They'd still feel the same."

"Yeah," Jaw frowned. "The thing I don't quite understand is… well she's not vegetarian…"

"And…?" Embry asked making a face.

"Well killing humans is against everything you werewolves are for, but it doesn't seem to bother him…"

"Well that's what imprinting does to you Jaq." Embry laughed. "As much as it goes against my nature to say this, if you weren't vegetarian… well I don't think it'd make me think twice about you at all. Even though it _is_ gross."

Jaq smiled and gave him a hug.

"E-Embry." Nathan said hesitantly from behind them. It was strange to see such a strong willed character so nervous. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure?" Embry said confused. Jaq smiled. She knew what was coming. She could tell by the look on his face and the guilt in his aura.

"I… I realise… I haven't been entirely fair to you…" Nathan bit his lip. "Jaq was right, I was just prejudiced. I should've just trusted her judgement – she is usually right after all." Jaq coughed. "Oh okay then more than usually." She laughed.

"It's err... its okay Nathan really." Embry stuttered.

"I… apologise for the way I acted. It was uncalled for." He held out his right hand and Embry shook it with a smile.

"It's okay seriously. You just wanted to protect her. I can defiantly understand that."

Nathan smiled. "Yes, I think you do."

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Emmett chanted. Rosalie smacked him around the head. "Oww."

"Don't be so childish."

"By the way, Nathan." Embry said as they began to walk back to the Cullens' house. "That shaking the hand thing…well… It's a bit old fashioned."

"Old fashioned?"

"Told you Nathan!" Jaq grinned. "Haven't I always said you were old fashioned?"

"So what do you do instead?"

"Well, you do _this_." Embry said as he dumped a whole load of the animal droppings all over him.

"Hey!"

Embry laughed and ran away. Instead of chasing him, Nathan turned to Jaq who was giggling next to him. "Well you seem to have the same sort of sense of humour."

"Oh that was just his subtle way of leaving us alone."

"Subtle eh?"

"Believe it or not."

There was an awkward silence.

"So…" Jaq began.

"Jaq," Nathan gushed. "I'm sorry I was an idiot. Seriously… I can see what you meant now. There's nothing wrong with Embry, nothing at all. It was all about my prejudices nothing to do with keeping you safe like I told myself. I just wanted you safe. I love you like you were my little sister and I don't know what I'd have done if something had happened you today… especially as we weren't on speaking terms. All that happened was that we got into our first fight. I don't want to fight with you. What if something had happened to you today and we were still..."

"Breathe Nathan." Jaq laughed.

"It's true though."

"Well I forgive you."

"Really? That quickly?"

"Yeah, let's think of it as a… sibling argument…"

"_Sibling_…" Nathan smiled. "I could get used to that."

Jaq laughed. "You sap."

"Well, I say we go back over to my future _brother-in-law_ and go collect our baby brother."

Jaq laughed again and they made their way back over to Embry.

"Hey Nathan," He grinned. "You got a little something there…" He pointed to where the droppings had stained his top.

"Yeah, you'd better be prepared mutt." Nathan said with mock-threat, no touch of offence intended. "I'll get you back for that."

"I'm shaking in my boots."

"You're not even wearing shoes Em…" Jaq said quietly.

"Fine, my cut-off jeans then."

"Want to go get Connor?" Nathan asked and Jaq nodded enthusiastically. _Finally_ she'd be able to look at him and know he was safe.

"Anyone who wants to come over can." Sam grinned. "Emily said she'd make cookies for everyone." The wolves all cheered and ran in the direction of La Push. "_Everyone_." He stressed and looked at the Cullens who smiled. He stopped and looked at Leah. "Leah… you… you can come too… if you want…"

She froze. "I…" She said after a moment. "I'd like that."

Jaq smiled at them and turned to Embry. "Come on let's go get Connor."

**N'awww everyone's friends again :) Sorry for such a long wait... I've had so much work :( stupid A-levels... **

**And yeah, I know what you're thinking... Prudence... you don't like her.. she doesn't like the Cullens... Well I thought it'd be fun if she stays a moody-cow... she always thought Jaq and Nathan's veggie thing was weird, so she's not going to change her mind just because she left Delano.... anyway personally i think she rocks. She's one of my fave characters xD haha...**

**Right well after this there is one more chapter and an epilogue... I'll probably post the next chapter tommorrow... I need to make a few changes first. Then a few day later I'll put the Epilogue up and that'll be the end... sniff... I don't want it to end... **

**Well thanks to..... elleminnowpee, Mrs Ali, takethis2urgrave, MyGhost31, sullyy, Kats and Twilight, Terra-Cullen, Sammiebaby703, werewolfwithaheart, JoeBob1379, a-lil-angel (another person I've _actually_ met in person!), hybrid, salma-cullen, and anyone I've missed for the awesome comments/faves/alerts .... i love you all :)**

**Also a hi to my awesome friend stonecoldheart27 who i'm seeing in exactly.....*works it out*.... 3 hours and 47 minutes!! woop!! Also check out her stories... they're awethum :) (And I'm in one woop)**

**Loves ~**

**PepperX**


	25. Friends

Jaq, Embry and Nathan picked Connor up from Ben's and brought him over to Emily's where most of the wolf pack was already eating up all supplies of chocolate chip cookies. The Cullens were there too, Carlisle deep in conversation with Sam about something to do with wolves and genetics and Alice deep in conversation with Kim about some top model. Sam and Leah hadn't arrived yet - they were probably talking. They had a lot to talk about…

Jaq watched with a ridiculously big smile on her face. She watched Connor chatting away happily to Emily and Nathan having an extremely shallow conversation with Paul about how hot Taylor Swift was. It was nice seeing him get on so well with someone he wouldn't have trusted the day before.

Embry let go of her for a second to lean forward for another cookie.

"I swear you've had like a million of those already."

"I'm a growing boy." He grinned. "I need it to feed these muscles." He hit them like a gorilla to show his masculinity.

"You know you have something stuck in your teeth right?" She giggled.

"Oh…" He blushed and licked his teeth. "Is it gone?"

"No I-"

The room fell silent and Jaq looked up to see Leah and Sam walking in. Everyone watched as Leah hesitantly made her way over to Emily. They stood still for a moment, awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. Finally Leah took deep breath, stepped forward and hugged her cousin. The room cheered.

Connor jumped off his chair and skipped over to Jaq and Embry.

"Who's that?" He whispered.

"That's Leah." Embry said and Jaq realised this was the first time he'd actually seen her. She hadn't exactly been social around the vampires before. "She's in Jacob's pack."

"She's pretty. Why does she look so sad though?"

"She… had a very big argument with Sam and Emily."

"Oh…" He quickly snatched the cookie out of Embry's hand. "Mine!"

"Hey!"

"Outwitted by a twelve year old." Jaq laughed.

"It was intentional really." Embry defended himself. "I knew what he was up to."

"_Sure_ you did…" Connor grinned.

"Jaq," Leah was standing in front of them smiling. It was the first time Jaq had ever seen her smile properly. Connor was right, she did look pretty, but with a smile she looked amazing. "Jaq, I just want to say thanks. You were right."

Jaq smiled. "It's alright."

"You know you're really not so bad… for a _leach_." Leah grinned.

"Well you know what?" Jaq laughed. "You're not too bad… you know… for a _dog_…"

Leah laughed too and hugged her.

"This doesn't make us friends by the way." She joked.

"Of course not." Jaq laughed again. "Anyway, this is the kid you were fighting for earlier. I know you haven't met him before."

Connor stepped forward and grinned. "Hi! I'm Connor."

Leah froze and stared at him in shock. Jaq frowned confused. Leah had a strange expression on her face… Where had she seen that expression before?

She looked up to Embry to see if he knew what was going on and he looked back down at her with a smile. He had exactly the same expression on his face… She looked back to Leah. She had the exact same expression that Embry had every time he looked at her. The same expression Drake had when he looked at Prudence, how Jacob looked at Nessie, how Emily looked at Sam…

Jaq grinned, realising what was going on.

"Are you okay?" Connor asked Leah, frowning.

"Yeah I'm fine, I … just err… realised something…" She looked at Jaq who gave her a look of encouragement. Leah smiled back, true happiness on her face, and turned back to Connor. "So Connor, what Xbox games do you like?"

"Wanna get out of here?" Embry whispered in Jaq's hair. She nodded and he led her out the door into the garden. They kept walking until they reached the beach.

"Can't believe Leah just _imprinted_ on Connor."

"Me neither." Jaq smiled as they sat down on a piece of driftwood. "I'm glad they'll both be happy now though."

"Me too." He slipped his arm around her and pulled her against him. "Guess he's gained another big sister."

"And another person to help decide if he's going to stay human."

"You know Leah'll vote for human right?"

"That's what I'm counting on." Jaq grinned.

"'Course it figures you'd make friends with Leah though." He snorted.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you seem to go for the ones no one else likes much." He ticked them off his fingers. "Colin, Brady, Rosalie, Leah…"

"Huh, and what makes you think people like _you_ much?" She joked.

"Well what can I say? I'm amazing."

"Yes, and your head is the size of a beach ball."

"Are you trying to say I'm big headed?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well it was something to do with the words head, size and beach ball…"

Jaq rolled her eyes. "I'm so glad this is all over and we can finally relax."

"Me too." Embry smiled. "We can just look forward to an eternity together."

"Forever…" Jaq smiled, knowing that in their case the words were actually true.

"Forever and Always." He agreed.

She leaned his head against his chest and watched the sun set. Tomorrow it would rise on a new day. Delano was dead, Nathan had accepted Embry, Emily was reunited with her cousin and Leah and Connor could look forward to a happy life together. It would be a day for so many new things, a new dawn…

**Okay, so now go listen to _Rocket - Yellowcard_ on youtube or something and imagine a film montage of .... Connor and Leah playing Xbox together.... Embry and Jaq skipping along the beach.... Connor growing up and starting High School..... Nathan, Jaq, Embry, Leah and Connor playing bundle on the beach..... Jaq and Embry get married....... Leah donating her car so Connor can take a girl out on a date.... Connor telling Jaq that he's a little freaked out 'cus he thinks he loves Leah even though she's like thirteen years older than him...... Connor telling Leah.... then Leah, Jaq, Embry and Nathan waving bye to Connor as he takes his first steps into college......**

**(yeah you get the picture)**

**Now go read the Epilogue...... **

**[Sorry, just HAD to finish with the title... it was too tempting... and yeah didn't mean to be too terribly cliche with Leah but it just happened. I never planned it. Ahh well at least she gets a happy ending]**

**Loves ~**

**PepperX**


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**7 years later…**

"Can you see him yet?" Jaq asked Embry. "All these students are too tall for me to see anything."

"Lucky you got me then eh shorty?" He laughed. "Wanna jump up on my shoulders?" He offered.

"Yes actually I think I will."

"Can't believe he's finished his first year of college already." Leah smiled as Jaq climbed up onto Embry's shoulders. "Seems only yesterday he was that little 12 year old in Emily's kitchen."

"You think that's weird." Nathan said. "I've known him since he was nine."

"Well I've known him since he was _born_ so nehh." Jaq grinned. "I trump you _all_." She settled herself on Embry's shoulders and looked around the car park. "Whoa! You can see _everything_ from up here!"

"Welcome to my world baby." Embry laughed.

"Urgh why was I born small? It's so _inconvenient_."

"I never went to college." Leah mused.

"Me neither." Jaq grinned happily.

"Nor me." Embry joined in.

"Now see I don't understand that." Nathan said. "You could've all gone to college with Connor and been in the same year as him but you didn't."

"College is for dorks." Jaq laughed. "High School's way more fun!"

"Are you calling my boyfriend a dork?" Leah joked.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not…"

"Boyfriend for how long, Leah?" Nathan winked. "I'm pretty sure he's ready to pop the question anytime soon."

Jaq and Embry exchanged a knowing glance. Fact was, only a few days ago Connor had written to Jaq asking for his mother's wedding ring. The ring was now sitting in Jaq's right pocket unknown to Leah.

"You don't know that." Leah blushed. "He might not even _want_ to get married."

Embry snorted. "I'm sorry but _what_? _Connor_ not want to get married?"

"Oh!" Jaq jumped. "My phone's ringing." She pulled the phone out of her pocket and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Jaq? It's Alice."

"Oh hey Alice! What's up?"

"Jaq, I just saw…you need to…"

"Sorry I can't hear you. The receptions really crap here. You'll have to speak up."

"Get…or…car…"

"I still can't hear you." The phone went dead. "Hello?" She looked at the phone but the signal had completely gone. "Well that was weird…"

"There he is!"

Jaq forgot completely about the phone call and squealed. She looked over to where Embry was pointing. There, stood a tall, muscular 19 year old boy in black skinnies, a tight tee, cardie and Vans. His dark brown hair was long and straightened to cover his eyes. Colin and Brady had certainly had their influence on him.

"Connor!" Jaq shrieked and waved.

He turned around hearing her and grinned. Seeing the sea of people between them he shouted for them to meet him out the back. He said goodbye to his friends and sprinted back though the doors.

Jaq gave him a thumbs-up and they began to weave their way through the crowd.

"He's going to make it there before us." Nathan muttered.

Finally the crowd began to thin out.

"Just a few more metres!" Jaq grinned. She looked over the sea of people from her perch on Embry's shoulders. She scanned the empty streets until she noticed a figure about to cross a road a few blocks away. "I can see him!"

She watched as he began to cross the road - without looking and part way through writing a text – she'd scold him for that later. He accidently dropped his phone in the middle of the road and bent to pick it up.

The rest seemed to happen in slow motion. She noticed a van speeding towards him and shouted for them to move faster.

"Quick! Quick! Run! There's a car! He's going to get hit!" They got the message and tried to move faster but the sea of people was too thick.

Just as they broke from the crowd the van hit him. Connor was catapulted up into the air at 80mph and hit the floor in a crumpled heap. He didn't move.

"No!"

"Connor!"

By the time they'd reached him the van was long gone. _Stupid hit and run_…

Jaq jumped down from Embry's shoulders and cradled Connor's head in her arms. Leah took his hand and lifted it up to her face. Nathan looked him over. After working for a while with Carlisle in the hospital he'd picked up quite a lot of medical knowledge.

"He won't make it." He said quietly.

"No!"

Leah started to cry.

"Jaq," Nathan said looking at her. "His heart's still beating. If we change him we can save him."

"No…" Jaq wailed. "We can't… we can't do that to him."

"Jaq we have to."

"Change him." Leah choked. "Nathan, change him."

Nathan looked up at Jaq. Slowly, she nodded.

"S-save him."

Her face crumpled up and Embry pulled her into his chest.

"Shh…" He whispered into her hair. "It'll be okay… It'll be okay…"

**Go ahead, cry, that's what i did when i wrote it.... then smile, because he survives (as a vampire) and he gets to live forever with all the people he loves :)**

**Okay so that's the end :( Sniff it's been great.... **

**So i just want to say thanks to..... (brace yourselves) ....... ****Shideh, Mercury-Serenity, stonecoldheart27, Crazy-Kid-Parker, IRunWithWolvesX, SilverGoldSun, 666Angi, pherrancullen, renesmee44, silvergoldsun, jane-vivian-volturi, adicted2twilight, hannapam, gabiwoods, J3LLY83AN, LollyDudetteHaha, TwiHardFanWendi, 'A-l-I-c-I-a-H-o-L-l-I-e', MyGhost31, Lexi Roxi Lauren Chipsterz xxx, lluvialpz, MrsLautnerCullen, xXAMBERXx, checkers1, Graciemayoreilly, Diva Roweled, Lalita, Harry-Potter-Fan-Girl, moviefreak12, jay-loo, Sasha88, shire, elleminnowpee, Mrs Ali, takethis2urgrave, MyGhost31, sullyy, Kats and Twilight, Terra-Cullen, Sammiebaby703, werewolfwithaheart, JoeBob1379, a-lil-angel, hybrid & salma-cullen.....**

**But most especially to Mercury-Serenity whose stuck it out the whole way through, Pherracullen who joined up a little later but has been so awesomely useful and SilverGoldSun who has also been there a while... **

**And then of course to Stonecoldheart27 and a-lil-angel, I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH 3**

**Now, next I'm going to be putting up a KimxJared one which will only be about 6 or 7 chapters.... then after that it'll either be a PaulxRachel or a LilyxJames (harry potter) tell me what you think and I'll see ya there :)**

**Thanks guys, love you all :)**

**Loves ~**

**PepperX**


End file.
